UCSB  UBRARY 


S  A  B  R  I  N  A 

The  Class  Goddess 

OF 
AMHERST  COLLEGE 


A   HISTORY 

Compiled  by 

MAX  SHOOP 

Guardian  for  Class  of   1910 


Copyrighted   1910 
Max  Shoop,  Amherst,   Mass. 


Press  of 
LORING-AXTELL  COMPANY, 

Springfield,  Mass. 


Co  tfce  Class  of  1910 

among  whose  loyal  members  I  have  found 

so  many  friends, 
this  life  of  our  Goddess  is 

^Dedicated. 


PREFACE 


I  HE  bronze  statue  of 
Sabrina,  of  which 
this  book  is  a  history, 
has  played  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  inter- 
class  affairs  of  Amherst  College  since 
the  early  eighties.  Before  the  mem- 
ory of  man  begins  to  fail  on 
the  interesting  details  of  the  early 
history  of  this  statue,  it  seemed  best 
that  an  authentic  history  be  pub- 
lished. It  is  fitting  that  all  Sabrina 
men,  at  least,  should  be  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  story. 

The  facts  contained  herein  are 
as  accurate  and  full  as  could  be 
obtained  by  the  compiler,  who 
has  endeavored  to  maintain,  as 
nearly  as  his  love  for  Sabrina  would 
permit,  the  impartiality  of  the  his- 
torian. This  book  is  published  in 
5 


the  hope  that  what  it  lacks  in 
literary  worth  will  be  made  up  in 
the  minds  of  the  readers  by  the 
unusual  nature  of  the  theme. 

In  publishing  this  book  the  com- 
piler has  been  greatly  assisted  with 
facts  and  personal  reminiscences  by 
the  following  Amherst  men, :  Edwin 
Duffey,  '90;  E.  B.  Child,  '90; 
John  T.  Stone,  '91;  R.  B.  Luding- 
ton,  '91;  H.  C.  Crocker,  '91; 
James  M.  Breed,  '93;  Harlan  F. 
Stone,  '94  ;  Benjamin  Hyde,  '94  ; 
H.  T.  Noyes,  '94  ;  Grosvenor 
Backus,  '94;  Charles  J.  Staples,  '96; 
Samuel  Furbish,  '98 ;  Ferdinand 
Blanchard,  '98;  E.  E.  Green,  '00; 
Robert  Cleeland,'02;  J.B.  Eastman, 
'04;  Ralph  Wheeler,  '06;  Fayette 
Read,  '08.  The  writer  is  indebted 
to  Prof.  John  F.  Genung  for  his 
introduction  and  helpful  criticism, 
and  also  to  Burges  Johnson,  '99 


for  his  appreciation  of  Sabrina,  here 
published. 

The    sketches   were  drawn  by  J. 
F.     Swalley,    '10. 

MAX  SHOOP.'IO. 


INTRODUCTION 

)HE  little  book  here 
offered  to  the  reader 
opens  a  window  into 
a  phase  of  college 
life  hitherto  known 
only  by  floating  rumors  and  detached 
bits  of  alumni  reminiscence.  In  one 
way  it  seems  almost  a  pity  to  let 
the  grey  light  of  common  day  into 
what  has  had  so  authentic  a  touch 
of  the  mysterious  and  romantic.  In 
another  way,  however,  so  far  from 
taking  the  glamour  out  of  the  Sabrina 
cult,  it  but  drives  the  sentiment 
deeper  into  the  imaginative  college 
heart.  The  facts  are  before  us 
indeed,  like  a  news  item,  in  the 
prosaic  realism  of  print.  But  the 
facts  are  only  the  surface  of  the 
matter.  For  to  those  who  read 
them  penetratively  they  turn  out  to 
9 


be  a  chronicle  not  of  irresponsible 
school-boy  pranks,  but  of  that  pulsa- 
tion of  fancy  and  adventure  which 
is  sure  to  claim  its  rights  in  a  vigorous 
and  healthy  youth.  Sabrina,  for 
the  college  man,  is  not  a  mass  of 
metal,  stowed  away  in  haymows 
and  shipped  from  place  to  place 
to  the  profit  of  the  express  companies; 
not  a  mere  occasion  for  audacious 
student  larks.  She  is  a  divinity, 
fair  and  gracious,  a  gentle  protectress 
who  herself  deigns  to  be  protected; 
her  throne  a  rallying-point  for  class 
loyalty  and  fellowship  and  enthusi- 
asm. As  such  she  holds  a  unique 
place  in  college  and  in  the  memory 
of  her  devotees. 

Let  us  look  a  little  through  the 
window  she  opens  and  see  what  the 
view  yields  of  the  secret  of  Sabrina 
and  of  what  she  stands  for  in  college 
life. 

10 


We  will  choose,  to  look  through, 
the  eyes  of  a  man,  a  business  man 
say,  who  is  looking  into  college 
from  the  outside,  and  who  himself 
has  never  been  to  college.  His  sons 
are  there,  getting  an  experience 
which  has  been  denied  him.  From 
time  to  time  come  echoes  of  how 
they  fare,  such  reports  as  reach  him 
through  the  newspapers.  What  are 
his  hopeful  wards  doing  all  this 
time?  If  his  exacting  business  cares 
allow  him  an  occasional  thought 
of  them,  it  surely  must  be  not 
unlike  the  thought  that  came  to 
Byron's  gladiator,  -  '  There  are 
his  young  barbarians  all  at  play." 
The  newspapers  do  not  report  much 
more.  The  scores  of  football  and 
baseball  and  tennis  and  track  fill 
the  page  and  make  exciting  news; 
he  sees  his  boys'  pictures  in  padded 
clothes  or  in  thin  drawers  clearly 
11 


not  meant  for  the  costume  of  the 
class-room.  About  the  class-room 
itself,  and  the  library,  and  the 
laboratory,  he  may  search  in  vain 
for  reports  of  achievement  or  prog- 
ress; such  things  do  not  make 
sensational  items  for  the  crowd. 
Even  the  sons  themselves,  home  on 
their  vacation,  one  suspects,  are  not 
eloquent  about  their  college  routine, 
or  they  pass  it  off  with  hints  of  the 
bluffs  and  tricks  by  which  the 
routine  is  enlivened.  What  are  they 
doing  to  become  scholars,  or  get 
ready  for  the  coming  toil  and 
moil  of  business?  Clearly,  if  the 
outsider  depends  on  the  papers 
for  his  information,  college  is  a 
holiday,  a  place  for  high  jinks 
and  play. 

But  the  world  sees  only  what  it 
has  eyes  to  see.  And  so  far  as 
externalities  go,  the  outside  world 

12 


is  right.  College  is  a  place  for 
play.  That  is  in  a  sense  its  glory. 
But  it  is  not  a  place  where  they  con- 
tinue to  be  "  his  young  barbarians 
all  at  play."  Somehow,  they  them- 
selves scarcely  know  how,  they  are 
passing  out  of  the  barbarian  stratum 
into  something  that  makes  the  play 
a  finer,  more  civilized  thing.  For 
there  is  play  and  play.  There  is 
play  with  the  keen  sense  of  honor 
and  culture  in  it,  with  disdain  of 
what  belongs  to  the  mucker  and  the 
cad.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
play  in  work,  such  ease  and  mastery 
of  its  processes  as  takes  the  moil  and 
drudgery  out  of  it;  an  ideal  which 
the  true  scholar  finds,  but  of  which 
we  do  not  here  speak.  The  fellows 
are  learning  even  to  make  play  of 
baseball,  and  thus  interpose  a  make- 
weight against  the  inveterate  Ameri- 
can tendency  to  make  it  a  hustling 

13 


business  and  profession.  They  are 
learning,  in  short,  in  the  whole  atmos- 
phere of  their  work  and  their  games, 
that  the  trail  of  the  counting-room 
must  not  impose  its  hardening,  sear- 
ing impress  on  the  real  inwardness 
of  life;  their  college  fellowship  fur- 
nishes a  subtle  refining  element 
which  releases  them  from  its  nar- 
rowness and  tyranny. 

Just  here  is  where  the  outsider's 
realizing  sense  of  the  college  spirit 
wholly  fails.  He  has  not  the  com- 
bination to  unlock  its  secret.  Kip- 
ling describes  a  multi-millionaire's 
feeling  of  this  limitation  in  the  char- 
acter of  Cheyne,  in  "  Captains 
Courageous."  Cheyne  has  untold 
power  to  bend  circumstances  to  his 
hard  will  and  manipulate  men;  but 
he  is  urging  his  son  to  go  to  college 
because,  as  he  says,  "  I  can't  com- 
pete with  the  man  who  has  been 

14 


ia.ugh.il"  He  feels  himself  a  hope- 
less outsider.  "  Don't  I  know  it? 
Don't  I  know  the  look  on  men's 
faces  when  they  think  me  a — a 
'  mucker,'  as  they  call  it  out  here? 
I  can  break  them  to  little  pieces — 
yes — but  I  can't  get  back  at  'em 
to  hurt  'em  where  they  live.  I  don't 
say  they're  'way,  'way  up,  but  I  feel 
I'm  'way,  'way,  'way  off,  some- 
how." He  attributes  his  lack  to 
what  he  calls  "  the  plain,  common, 
sit  -  down  -  with  -  your  -chin-on-your- 
elbows  book-learning."  Well,  that 
helps,  as  every  son  of  old  Amherst 
knows.  But  that,  as  Kipling  would 
say,  is  another  story.  There  is  a 
subtle  element  beyond  learning,  as 
one  can  realize  by  observing  the 
limitatious  of  the  college  "grind." 

To  connect  the  secret  with 
Sabrina  would  seem  to  men  like 
Cheyne  like  evaporating  all  that  is 
15 


substantial  in  college  to  a  fra- 
grance. Nor  indeed  would  I  make 
any  extravagant  claim  for  her.  All 
I  would  claim  for  this  Sabrina 
custom  is  that  here  is  revealed  a 
subtle  and  elusive  but  very  real  ele- 
ment of  college  life,  something  be- 
yond the  inane  prank  and  beyond 
the  exactions  of  sport.  We  get, 
in  short,  a  glimpse  into  the  col- 
lege man's  centre  of  active  senti- 
ment, where  his  youthful  fancy,  his 
play  of  imagination,  his  sense  of 
loyalty  and  ideal,  have  spontaneous 
outlet.  It  is  like  the  soldier's  loyalty 
for  his  flag.  The  Sabrina  man, 
with  his  privileged  class,  is  in  the 
conscious  service  of  a  protecting  and 
propitious  divinity.  He  will  do 
anything  for  her;  he  will  not  limit 
the  good  she  stands  for  to  him. 
Here  the  Sabrina  man  will  doubt- 
less be  the  first  to  exclaim,  as  chil- 

16 


dren  say  of  their  prodigious  fairy- 
tales, "  Oh,  nonsense;  it  isn't  so; 
we  only  just  say  so."  But  to  say 
so,  and  to  act  accordingly,  is 
something.  It  is  evidence  that  in 
this  crowded  college  world  the 
vein  of  fancy,  of  poetry  if  you 
please,  even  though  only  wreak- 
ing itself  on  a  confessed  make- 
believe,  is  not  extinct  or  running 
low.  Task-work  in  books  and  lab- 
oratory has  not  deadened  it;  dress 
suits  have  not  conventionalized  it; 
the  rough  activities  t>f  sport  and 
athletics  have  not  swamped  it  in 
barbarian  play.  The  freedom  of 
audacious  make-believe  still  asserts 
its  rights.  Even  when  boys  have 
become  husky  young  men,  old 
enough  to  shave,  the  grey  realism 
of  life  has  not  completed  its  hard 
invasion,  and  by  the  grace  of  the 
college  ideal  it  never  will. 
17 


As  long  as  this  sentiment  remains 
vital — and  this  holds  for  alumni 
as  for  undergraduates — the  stolid 
world  cannot  really,  as  Cheyne  puts 
it,  *'  hurt  'em  where  they  live."  The 
poetic  vein  is  there,  not  exhausted 
by  Sabrina,  nor  monopolized  by  the 
even-numbered  classes.  Stevenson 
shall  speak  for  it  here.  He,  as 
my  readers  are  aware,  has  written 
a  capital  Sabrina  paper,  in  his 
essay  on  "  The  Lantern  Bearers." 
Only  his  Sabrina  was  a  carefully 
concealed  bull's-eye  lantern  which 
on  certain  secret  occasions  the  boys 
carried  at  their  belt.  '  The  essence 
of  the  bliss  was  to  walk  by  yourself 
in  the  black  night;  the  slide  shut, 
the  top-coat  buttoned;  not  a  ray 
escaping,  whether  to  conduct  your 
footsteps  or  to  make  your  glory 
public:  a  mere  pillar  of  darkness  in 
the  dark;  and  all  the  while,  deep 

18 


down  in  the  privacy  of  your  fool's 
heart,  to  know  you  had  a  bull's- 
eye  at  your  belt,  and  to  exult  and 
sing  over  the  knowledge."  Just  as 
"  none  could  recognize  a  lantern- 
bearer,  unless  (like  the  pole-cat) 
by  the  smell,"  so  perhaps  no  out- 
sider can  recognize  the  Sabrina 
man  except  by  his  class  number. 
But  there  he  is,  cherishing  a  senti- 
ment which  is  its  own  justification, 
and  which  through  all  the  coming 
years  of  alumni-hood,  let  us  hope, 
will  keep  the  glamour  of  college 
days  alive.  "It  is  said  that  a  poet 
has  died  young  in  the  breast  of  the 
most  stolid.  It  may  be  contended 
rather  that  this  (somewhat  minor) 
bard  in  almost  every  case  survives, 
and  is  the  spice  of  life  to  his  posses- 
sor. Justice  is  not  done  to  the 
versatility  and  the  unplumbed  child- 
ishness of  man's  imagination.  His 
19 


life  from  without  may  seem  but  a 
rude  mound  of  mud;  there  will  be 
some  golden  chamber  at  the  heart 
of  it,  in  which  he  dwells  delighted; 
and  for  as  dark  as  his  pathway 
seems  to  the  observer,  he  will  have 
some  kind  of  a  bull's-eye  at  his 
belt." 

The  little  book  before  us  lets  in 
the  light,  not  rudely  nor  unsym- 
pathetically,  on  our  Amherst  lantern- 
bearers.  Here  we  are  made  aware 
of  what  Duffey  and  Ingalls  with 
their  mystic  Sabrina  vision,(delicious 
thought!)  and  Ben  Hyde  and  Char- 
ley Staples,  with  their  banquet- 
ing and  singing  classmates,  have 
had  and  still  have  buttoned  up 
under  their  top-coats.  It  is  a  de- 
lightful thing  to  discover.  The  heart 
of  the  old  professor  who  writes 
these  words,  who  has  lived  through 
the  whole  Sabrina  period,  warms 

20 


to  the  poet  who  has  not  died  young 
within  them.  The  dig  or  the  dawd- 
ler must  be  left  to  look  out  for 
himself;  he  has  chosen  his  own 
inner  resources;  but  since  Sabrina 
has  had  these  men  in  her  keeping, 
and  they  her  in  theirs,  they  are  live 
men;  we  need  have  no  fear  for  them. 
And  as  often  as  they  live  over  again 
their  Sabrina  experience,  and  cherish 
its  enriching  effects,  they  will  verify, 
in  English  if  not  in  Latin,  what 
they  dimly  felt  at  the  time  of  it, 
OLIM  MEMINISSE  JUVABIT. 

So   we   give   the   little   book   our 
hearty  good-speed. 

JOHN  F.  GENUNG. 


21 


AN    APPRECIATION 

By  a  Non-Sabrina  Man. 
d.Sabrina  is,  at  the  present  date  of 
writing,  Goddess  of  Amherst's  even- 
numbered  classes.  Her  countenance 
sheds  a  certain  effulgence  over  this 
portion  of  the  graduate  and  under- 
graduate body,  with  perhaps  just 
such  a  mentally  benumbing  influence 
as  was  wielded  by  Circe's  baleful 
beauty.  As  this  history  is  written 
by  one  of  Sabrina's  subjects,  it  is 
perhaps  advisable  to  have  it  pref- 
aced by  the  graduate  of  an  odd 
year,  who,  undazzled,  unprejudiced, 
with  an  eye  single  to  the  truth,  may 
put  the  reader  on  his  guard. 

Imagine  a  female  (Goddess  if 
you  will,  for  residence  on  Olympus 
entitled  no  certificate  of  character) 
of  uncertain  age,  brazen  beyond 
denial,  and  bearing  the  scars  of 
ancient  brawls.  Realize  that  she 
23 


has  travelled  the  breadth  of  the 
land,  wining  and  dining  annually 
only  at  stag  occasions;  evading  the 
police  and  detectives,  and  all  this 
in  a  costume  that  were  better  not 
described, — if  indeed  it  merits  the 
name. 

These  facts  it  seems  well  to  place 
before  the  reader,  as  a  matter  of 
fairness.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
fact  that  a  heroine  is  no  lady  does 
not  lessen  the  popular  interest  in 
her  memoirs,  as  a  study  of  current 
literature  proves.  And  it  may  be 
said  in  Sabrina's  behalf  that  she 
has  always  been  true  to  Amherst; 
and  surely  constancy  to  so  worthy 
an  object  for  such  a  term  of  years 
is  a  mighty  virtue.  For  that  reason, 
if  for  no  other,  the  voices  of  odd- 
and  even-numbered  classes  some- 
times blend,  singing  in  mighty  chorus 
the  stirring  paean  in  her  praise. 

SURGES  JOHNSON,  '99. 

24 


S     A     B     R     I     N     A 

There  is  a  gentle  nymph  not  far  from  hence, 
That  with  moist  curb,  sways  the  smooth  Severn 

stream ; 
Sabrina  is  her  name,  a  virgin  fair. 

— Comas. 

JVERY  people  has 
had  its  guardian 
deity,  for  it  is  man's 
nature  to  worship. 
The  ancient  Greeks 
looked  to  Athena  or  Aphrodite  for 
protection  and  inspiration.  These 
dwellers  upon  Olympus  have  come 
and  gone  and  their  day  in  the 
affections  of  men  passed  long,  long 
ago.  But  man's  affections  remain, 
and  seek  some  object  of  worship. 
Myriads  of  deities  have  from  time 
to  time  blessed  men  with  their 
presence.  It  has  been  reserved  to 
certain  chosen  men  of  Amherst 
25 


College,  in  Massachusetts,  to  cherish 
still  as  their  patron  Goddess,  and 
the  guardian  of  their  college  life, 
the  beautiful  and  chaste  Sabrina, 
the  Athena  of  the  Saxon  race. 

The  gods  of  the  Greeks  belonged 
to  all  alike.  Sabrina,  though  for- 
merly Goddess  of  the  Britons, 
wearied  with  watching  the  ordinary 
run  of  men,  has  turned  all  her  pro- 
tection and  devotion  to  the  chosen 
few  of  the  little  college  on  the  hill 
at  Amherst.  She  signifies  every- 
thing to  her  followers,  and  they  never 
grow  tired  of  singing  her  praises 
and  glorious  name,  especially  to 
those  unfortunate  ones  who  have 
only  been  allowed  to  gaze  at  her 
from  afar  and  have  tried  hard  to 
conceal  the  envy  which  rises  strong 
within  them  because  they  too  may 
not  know  the  calm  and  peace  of  her 
protecting  care. 

26 


Whenever  Sabrina  men  stand  in 
her  majestic  presence,  there  rushes 
over  them  as  a  mighty  flood  the 
memory  of  how  her  influence  has 
enriched  their  college  life;  and  once 
more  they  recall  the  old  but  fascinat- 
ing story  of  all  her  thrilling  ex- 
periences since  the  time  she  was 
born  long,  long  ago  in  the  darkness 
of  a  prison  to  a  life  of  captivity, 
before  she  became  the  River  God- 
dess of  the  Britons. 


It  was  about  three  thousand  years 
ago  that  Hymyr,  the  Hun,  descended 
with  his  savage  violence,  and  laid 
waste  the  beautiful  country  along 
the  banks  of  the  river  Albis  in 
Germany.  As  part  of  his  booty, 
Hymyr  carried  off  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  the  German  king  to 
be  his  slave.  The  wild  Hun  con- 
27 


tinued  his  destruction  along  the 
coast  of  Frigia  until  he  reached  the 
rich  island  of  Albion,  newly  named 
Briton  from  its  king  Brutus.  He 
sailed  up  the  coast  to  the  province 
called  Albany,  and  landing  there 
with  his  fierce  sea-robbers  easily 
defeated  Albanactus,  the  King,  and 
drove  him  from  his  realm.  Hymyr 
and  his  men  then  revelled  in  the 
halls  of  Albanactus  in  heedless 
security.  It  was  a  joyous  place, 
this  land  of  the  Britons,  and  the 
Huns  had  no  thought  of  care  for 
the  morrow. 

Meanwhile  the  defeated  Alba- 
nactus had  secured  the  aid  of  his 
brother,  King  Locrinus  of  Loegria. 
The  two  brothers  and  their  armies 
fell  upon  the  Huns  in  the  midst  of 
their  revels,  and,  killing  Hymyr, 
took  his  followers  captive.  Then 
all  the  treasure  from  Hymyr's  ships 

28 


was  laid  before  the  two  kings. 
There  were  costly  garments,  precious 
vessels,  bronze,  gold,  and  armour,— 
spoils  of  many  palaces.  And  as 
the  two  brothers  admired,  lo,  one 
brought  the  fair  captive,  Princess 
Esyllt,  daughter  of  the  German 
King.  '*  When  the  eyes  of  Locrinus 
lighted  on  her,  albeit  her  look  was 
bent  on  the  ground,  and  her  long 
hair  almost  hid  her  features,  love 
suddenly  flooded  his  soul,  and  he 
stood  like  one  smitten  by  the  power- 
ful wand  of  a  magician."  To  his 
brother  Albanactus,  he  gladly  gave 
all  the  gold  and  riches,  satisfied  to 
have  but  Esyllt  for  his  own.  He 
wooed  her  for  his  wife,  and  took 
her  back  with  him  to  his  kingdom. 
It  seems,  however,  that  this  Locrinus 
had  previously  promised  Corineus, 
the  giant  king  of  the  Welch,  to 
take  to  wife  his  daughter  Guendolen. 
29 


But  Locrinus  did  not  love  this 
daughter  of  the  Welch  king.  Never- 
theless, when  Corineus  heard  of 
Locrinus'  marriage  to  Esyllt,  he 
was  exceeding  wroth  and  prepared 
to  march  against  Locrinus,  and 
punish  him  for  the  insult  he  had 
offered  him  and  his  daughter. 

King  Locrinus,  hearing  of  his 
coming,  and  boding  ill  of  the  issue, 
privily  hid  his  wife  Esyllt  in  a 
shepherd's  hut,  and  caused  a  rumor 
to  be  spread  throughout  his  kingdom 
that  the  Queen  had  suddenly  died. 
These  tidings  met  Corineus  on  the 
way,  and  somewhat  slaked  his 
fury.  He  proceeded,  however,  and 
forced  Locrinus,  on  pain  of  death, 
to  fulfill  his  pledge  and  marry  his 
daughter.  The  king,  with  a  heavy 
heart,  assented  and  formed  an  un- 
happy marriage  with  the  haughty 
Guendolen. 

30 


The  Queen  Esyllt  meanwhile  tar- 
ried sadly  in  the  shepherd's  hut, 
wearying  for  the  coming  of  her  lord. 
She  bore  the  time  patiently,  yet 
longed  for  his  return.  She  had 
heard  the  shepherd  tell  of  the 
terrible  happenings  at  the  palace,  and 
she  lay  awake  the  nights,  weep- 
ing and  praying  the  gods  to  pro- 
tect her  lord  and  restore  him  to 
her  in  the  fullness  of  his  love. 

Fearing  the  jealous  eye  of  Guen- 
dolen,  Locrinus  fitted  up  a  secret 
chamber  which  had  been  curiously 
contrived  years  before  by  his  father 
Brutus,  for  the  deposit  of  treasure. 
Thither  one  night  he  brought  his 
beautiful  Esyllt.  She  had  not  been 
many  days  in  this  dark  chamber 
when  a  daughter  was  born  to  her. 
The  little  Sabrina,  as  the  Queen 
Esyllt  named  her,  pined  not  for 
what  she  knew  not  of.  The  pale 
31 


light  of  the  lamp  which  burnt  night 
and  day  in  the  dark  chamber 
could  not  ripen  the  color  in  her 
cheeks  or  waken  the  laughter  on 
her  lips,  as  the  goodly  sun  does. 
She  became  a  child  of  captivity, 
yet  not  unhappy  even  in  her  darkened 
life.  For  seven  long  years  she 
dwelt  in  this  secret  chamber.  Only 
through  the  words  of  her  guarding 
mother  did  she  learn  aught  of  the 
outer  world.  Sabrina  grew  most 
beautiful,  with  a  beauty  of  sur- 
passing sweetness,  unknown  in  sun- 
kissed  mortals. 

At  the  end  of  seven  years  the 
mighty  king  Corineus  died,  and 
straightway  Locrinus  put  away  the 
haughty  Guendolen,  with  whom 
life  had  become  unbearable,  and 
he  took  back  to  him  on  his  throne 
the  beautiful  Queen  Esyllt  for  whom 
he  had  waited  so  long.  Again 

joy  filled  the  halls  the  palace. 

32 


The  beauty  of  the  little  Sabrina 
won  praise  from  all  the  court;  but 
the  glory  of  the  upper  world  was 
well  nigh  too  much  for  the  child. 
She  hid  herself  from  the  light  and 
sounds  of  the  palace  and  the  at- 
tention of  the  courtiers.  She  lan- 
guished for  the  still  chamber  which 
had  so  long  been  her  home.  Her 
nature  craved  the  sunless  life, — 
the  life  of  captivity.  She  was  most 
gentle  of  speech,  and  a  sweet  smile 
played  continually  over  her  face, 
like  moonlight  on  the  waters. 

When  Sabrina  had  grown  to 
woman's  estate,  tidings  came  that 
the  haughty  Guendolen  had  re- 
turned to  her  father's  kingdom, 
and  now  with  a  large  army  was 
marching  eastward,  vowing  to  slay 
Locrinus,  and  take  Esyllt  and  Sa- 
brina captive.  The  King  hurriedly 
marshalled  his  army,  and  taking 
33 


Esyllt  and  the  Princess  with  him, 
marched  boldly  to  meet  the  army 
of  Guendolen  on  his  frontier.  A 
fierce  battle  ensued,  in  which  Locrin- 
us  was  struck  down  by  an  arrow, 
and  in  the  subsequent  rout  of  his 
army  Sabrina  and  her  mother  were 
captured.  The  haughty  daughter 
of  Corineus  gloried  in  her  victory, 
heaping  insults  on  the  dead  king 
and  reviling  the  two  women  who 
stood  trembling  before  her.  As  they 
answered  not  her  charges,  Guen- 
dolen ordered  them  without  more 
ado  to  be  flung  into  the  river  that 
was  flowing  hard  by.  As  six  fierce 
warriors  sprang  forward  to  seize 
them,  Sabrina  gazed  pleadingly  into 
the  face  of  her  mother,  who  there- 
upon lifting  her  head  looked  straight 
into  the  eyes  of  her  captor,  this 
daughter  of  Corineus,  and  spake 
thus,—  "  Princess,  if  I  have  wronged 

34 


thee,  the  gods  have  richly  avenged 
thee,  seeing  that  I  did  it  unwillingly, 
yea,  even  unwittingly.  The  fate 
thou  adjudgest  to  me  and  to  this 
child  is  indeed  a  merciful  one; 
I  seek  not  to  change  it — it  is  far, 
far  better  to  fall  thus  into  the  hands 
of  the  gods;  but  add  to  it  yet  this 
boon, — let  not  the  hands  of  thy 
warriors  come  upon  the  maiden, 
seeing  that  she  is  a  Princess  and 
a  daughter  of  the  noble  Locrinus. 
Behold,  we  go  whither  thou  bidst 
us,  and  may  the  merciful  gods 
receive  us!" 

Thus  speaking  she  walked  down 
the  green  meadow  to  the  amber 
stream,  Sabrina  walking  lightly  by 
her  side.  And  as  they  came  to 
the  brink  and  the  murmuring  waters 
kissed  their  feet,  the  two  women 
turned  their  faces  to  the  setting 
sun  which  was  touching  the  purple 
35 


hills  with  radiant  splendor.  Sabrina 
silently  saluted  it — before  long  she 
would  be  there.  As  in  a  dream 
she  saw  herself  a  queen  there 
in  the  land  of  the  setting  sun,  and 
at  her  feet  many  followers,  of  a 
different  race  than  these  whom 
she  was  now  leaving  forever.  Esyllt 
bowed  her  head  joyfully,  for  she 
could  see  Locrinus  beckoning,  and 
a  vision  of  future  happiness  blotted 
out  the  terror  of  the  moment.  After 
mother  and  child  had  silently  em- 
braced each  other,  hand  in  hand 
they  bravely  plunged  into  the  cold 
bosom  of  the  stream, — sank, — and  no 
one  saw  them  more.  But  the  name 
of  the  beautiful  princess  clung  ever 
to  the  stream,  and  men  as  they 
wander  by  the  glassy  Severn  in 
Old  England  dream,  even  yet,  of 
the  gentle  Sabrina,  who  became 
a  Goddess  of  the  river  and  of  the 

Britons. 

36 


Sabrina  remained  for  a  time  in 
those  halls  of  the  River  Gods, 
harkening  ever  to  the  cry  of  the 
innocent,  and  lending  her  help  to 
the  honest  and  virtuous.  But  one 
thing  the  Britons  did  not  know, 
that  in  the  course  of  time,  tiring 
of  the  society  of  the  other  Gods 
of  the  river,  Sabrina  roamed  to 
the  land  of  the  setting  sun,  the  land 
toward  which  she  had  looked  so 
longingly  as  she  stepped  into  the 
cold  waters  of  the  Severn.  Mean- 
while— for  long  ages  had  elapsed— 
this  land  had  become  America, 
and  was  peopled  with  men  who 
had  need  of  her  gracious  presence. 
And  thus  it  happened  that  among 
these  purple  hills  of  New  England 
she  appeared  to  a  few  men  of 
Amherst  College,  and  in  a  vision 
spake  to  them,  "  I  am  the  Goddess 
Sabrina,  the  Goddess  of  Truth  and 
37 


Loyalty.  The  old  statue  which 
once  graced  your  Campus  and  now 
lies  hidden  in  an  old  barn,  I  have 
chosen  for  my  abode.  Henceforth, 
that  statue  shall  be  more  than  a  mere 
bronze  form.  I  shall  breathe  into 
it  my  spirit,  and  if  you  will  but 
cherish  the  statue  and  do  it  honor, 
I  shall  be  your  Goddess  forever." 
With  those  words  Sabrina  vanished, 
the  dream  was  dispelled,  and  when 
morning  came  the  men  were  not 
unmindful  of  the  vision. 


38 


was  in  the  year  1857  that 
Governor  Joel  Hayden  of  Massa- 
chusetts gave  a  sum  of  money  to 
Amherst  College  for  the  erection 
of  a  bronze  statue  of  the  Goddess 
Sabrina.  The  original  from  which 
this  copy  was  made  is  at  Shrewsbury, 
England.  The  statue  presented  to 
the  college  was  made  in  1857. 
Its  weight  is  three  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds;  it  is  four  and  a  half 
feet  high.  The  college  valued  the 
gift  highly,  and  placed  it  in  the 
center  of  a  flower-bed  on  the  Cam- 
pus, at  the  foot  of  the  terrace, 
midway  between  North  College 
Dormitory  and  the  Octagon.  There 
it  remained  for  a  number  of  years 
in  peaceful  solitude.  The  sum- 
mers came  and  went,  but  they  were 
all  the  same  to  Sabrina.  Storm 
and  sunshine  passed  over  her  with 
like  effect.  Her  garment  of  driven 
39 


snow  suited  her  as  beautifully  as 
did  the  pearly  raindrops  of  summer. 
She  continued  to  sit  amidst  the 
flowers  of  the  garden,  always  smil- 
ing upon  the  students  as  they  passed 
to  their  college  duties. 

The  statue  rested  upon  a  large 
brownstone  base,  about  two  feet 
high,  four  and  a  half  feet  long, 
and  three  wide.  On  the  front  of 
this  stone  the  students  read  every 
morning  on  their  way  to  Chapel, 
the  words, 


PRESENTED 

BY 
JOEL  HAYDEN 

OF 
HAYDENVILLE. 


This  block  now  stands  in  the 
rear  of  the  new  Observatory,  on 
Snell  Street. 

After  several  years,  the  students 
began  to  take  more  notice  of  Sabrina. 
About  1 860,  a  certain  energetic 

40 


student  stole  some  clothing  from 
a  line  in  the  rear  of  the  girls'  school 
then  conducted  in  Amherst  and 
proceeded,  one  morning,  to  dress 
Sabrina  in  this  apparel.  Dr.  Hitch- 
cock saw  and  chased  the  student, 
who  in  jumping  a  fence  caught  his 
coat  on  a  picket  and  hung  there 
until  Dr.  Hitchcock  apprehended 
him.  The  youth  was  severely  rep- 
rimanded by  a  committee  of  the 
Faculty,  and  the  morning  after  a 
huge  gash  was  found  in  Sabrina's 
cheek  where  the  malignant  student 
had  avenged  himself  with  the  aid 
of  an  axe.  Sabrina  felt  deeply 
this  insult — but  with  some  skillful 
hammering  the  wound  was  healed. 
Later  the  class  of  '70,  after  the 
Faculty  had  expelled  one  of  their 
classmates,  gave  her  a  shining  coat 
of  whitewash.  Others  took  pity 
on  her  nudity  and,  at  different 

41 


times,  painted  articles  of  clothing, 
bright  red  shawls  or  blue  stock- 
ings, and  at  times  she  was  adorned 
with  a  hat  or  a  cloak.  Between 
1876  and  1880,  she  changed  color 
capriciously  from  black  to  white 
and  white  to  black,  running  the 
gamut  of  the  rainbow.  When  the 
tar  walks  were  being  laid  in  the 
town,  she  was  rudely  taken  from 
her  stone  pedestal  and  plunged 
headfirst  into  the  soft  tar.  Soon 
after,  however,  she  reappeared, 
smiling  brightly  as  ever  from  the 
center  of  the  flower  garden. 

One  year  the  class  of  '77  carried 
her  off  for  almost  a  week.  She 
was  returned,  however,  in  good 
condition.  "  And  then  President 
Stearns  opened  the  vials  of  his 
sarcasm  on  poor  '77,  wishing  them 
to  understand  that  they  had  done 
nothing  at  all  original,  for  Sabrina 

42 


SABRINA  IN  THE  FLOWER  BED 


had  been  courted  many  times  before, 
and  that  about  once  every  year." 
The  mystic  ceremonies  of  the  modern 
cult  of  Sabrina  were  to  be  developed 
later.  In  this  early  period,  the 
stunts  were  performed  by  individuals 
rather  than  classes.  On  one  occa- 
sion "  the  good  people  of  Amherst 
were  rudely  called  to  their  windows 
by  a  most  unusual  racket  to  see 
the  major  part  of  the  college  in  an 
unofficial  parade,  cheering  vocifer- 
ously and  carrying  an  improvised 
platform  on  which  Sabrina  was 
seated,  draped  in  a  beautiful  coat 
of  whitewash,  still  hardly  dry." 
The  procession  toured  the  village 
common  and  finally  returned  Sabrina 
to  her  home  among  the  flowers. 

One  morning,   in    1878,   she  ap- 
peared   on    top    of    the    Octagon, 
calmly  holding  a  rag  baby  labeled 
*'81."     This    was    the    first    time 
43 


in  the  history  of  the  statue  when 
it  figured  to  any  great  extent  as  a 
class  venture.  This  escapade  of 
hers,  in  which  she  had  the  kind 
assistance  of  the  class  of  '80,  was 
only  the  beginning  of  a  number 
of  such  performances  on  her  part. 
'82  planned  an  elaborate  Class 
Supper  and  having  stolen  Sabrina 
at  night,  toasted  her  as  the  guest 
of  honor  at  the  banquet.  '83  was 
very  rough  and  ungentle,  and  after 
a  decisive  victory  over  Williams 
in  baseball,  threw  her  into  the 
college  well.  The  college  authori- 
ties had  considerable  difficulty  in 
securing  an  efficient  rescue  party, 
and  Sabrina  dwelt  in  the  well 
for  several  days.  She  was  finally 
rescued,  however,  apparently  none 
the  worse  for  the  cold  plunge. 


Such  episodes  occurred  every  year 
or  so  after  some  big  victory.  Sa- 
brina,  however,  never  seemed  to 
mind,  though  her  exterior  began 
to  look  just  a  trifle  battered. 

The  college  authorities,  of  course, 
tried  to  put  an  end  to  this  fun, 
but  with  little  success.  Sabrina 
stood  there  patiently  year  after  year, 
except  for  intermittent  reigns  of 
terror.  One  day  a  number  of  stu- 
dents dragged  the  statue  to  the  top 
of  Chapel  Tower.  Several  times 
she  was  found  greeting  a  class 
in  the  morning,  from  the  top  of 
some  professor's  desk.  From  time 
to  time  she  was  adorned  with  every 
shade  of  war  paint.  Such  indig- 
nities grew  in  number  every  year, 
and  the  bronze  statue  was  so  woe- 
fully treated  after  every  victory 
that  the  authorities  of  the  college 
at  last  decided  to  be  rid  of  her, 

45 


and  so  put  an  end  to  all  such 
pranks.  Consequently,  in  1 884, 
the  President  drew  "  Professor 
Charlie,"  the  janitor  of  the  college, 
aside,  and  told  him  to  take  the 
statue  from  the  Campus  and  break 
it  up. 

Now  Professor  Charlie,  as  he 
was  called,  was  a  good  old  darky 
who  was  employed  about  the  col- 
lege grounds  to  take  care  of  things 
in  general,  and  to  see  that  the 
pranks  the  students  played  were 
not  too  destructive.  He  was  about 
the  college  from  1850  to  1890. 
He  was  always  absolutely  faithful 
to  his  duties  and  never  told  tales 
on  either  the  students  or  the  faculty. 
But  whenever  the  boys  tried  to  pull 
off  a  trick,  Professor  Charlie  was 
always  around  early  in  the  morn- 
ing to  see  that  the  scene  of  action 
was  put  to  rights  before  any  one 

46 


was  about.  It  was  the  soft  answer 
that  turned  away  wrath,  for  the 
students  could  not  be  angry  with 
him — he  was  only  doing  his  duty. 
One  night  the  students  stole  the 
clapper  out  of  the  Chapel  bell. 
Somehow,  Professor  Charlie  found 
it  out  before  morning,  and  was  up 
in  the  tower  bright  and  early  with 
a  new  clapper.  And  when  the  bell 
rang  the  same  as  usual,  the  students 
could  not  understand  how  it  hap- 
pened. Again  this  stunt  was  at- 
tempted, but  with  the  same  result. 
Finally,  Professor  Charlie  told  the 
boys  that  they  might  as  well  quit 
for  he  had  enough  clappers  to 
provide  the  Chapel  bell  for  a  year. 
At  another  time  some  students  had 
stolen  all  the  prayer-books  from 
the  Chapel  the  evening  before, 
so  that  prayers  might  not  be  held 
the  next  morning.  Professor  Char- 
47 


lie  discovered  it  about  a  half 
hour  before  chapel.  He  quietly 
went  over  to  the  house  of  President 
Seelye  and  slipped  a  note  under 
his  door,  saying  that  the  President 
had  better  bring  a  small  prayer- 
book  with  him  that  morning.  The 
President  took  the  hint,  and  so 
prayers  were  conducted  as  usual, 
and  the  students  never  knew  why 
their  plot  had  been  unsuccessful. 

Well,  it  was  this  good-souled 
old  darky,  whom  President  Seelye 
told  to  smash  the  statue.  Pro- 
fessor Charlie  took  pity,  however, 
because  Sabrina  was  "  such  a  beau- 
tiful thing,"  and  instead  of  breaking 
it  up,  he  hid  it  under  a  pile  of  hay 
in  his  old  barn  on  Snell  Street, 
away  below  Blake  Field.  There 
it  remained  undisturbed  for  two 
years. 

It  was  during  mid-winter  of  the 

48 


"PROF."  CHARLIE  AND  THE  COLLEGE  WELL 


year  1886  that  the  "Goddess" 
Sabrina  wandered  into  the  snow- 
covered  hills  of  New  England, 
and  a  little  later  appeared  in  a 
dream  to  two  men  of  the  class  of  '90, 
Duffey  and  Ingalls,  and  it  is  said 
by  those  who  know  that  "these  two 
men  were  just  the  right  ones  to  be 
favored  with  such  a  supernatural 
manifestation."  For  they  immedi- 
ately set  out  to  find  her,  and  from 
that  time  on  the  oft-mutilated  statue 
was  deified,  and  ever  since  has 
been  a  living  Goddess,  and  for 
seventeen  years  the  Goddess  of  the 
Even  Classes. 


Duffey     and     Ingalls,     the     men         '90 
to    whom    Sabrina    appeared    in    a  (1886-1890) 
dream,  were  not  "  disobedient  unto 
the   vision."     They   were   living  in 
49 


their  Freshmen  year  at  Guernsey's, 
on  the  road  to  old  Blake  Field. 
They  learned  from  these  people 
the  previous  history  of  Sabrina 
and  were  told  that  because  of  the 
frequent  abuse  of  the  statue  the 
college  had  caused  it  to  be  removed, 
and  that  rumor  held  that  Professor 
Charlie  still  had  it  in  his  house 
down  the  road.  DufTey  and  Ingalls 
told  the  news  to  Raymond  '90— 
and  the  three  planned  a  raid  on 
Prof.  Charlie's  house.  As  it  hap- 
pened, E.  B.  Child,  also  of  the 
class  of  '90,  learned  the  same  story 
at  about  the  same  time  from  some 
town-folk  who  hung  about  the  black- 
smith's shop  in  town,  and  according 
to  them  suspicion  pointed  strongly 
to  Professor  Charlie  as  the  man 
who  had  the  statue,  so  Child, 
Duffey,  Raymond  and  Ingalls 
planned  a  raid. 

50 


The  stealing  occurred  Sunday 
night,  June  19,  1887,  which  was 
'90's  Freshman  year.  It  was  at  the 
time  that  the  Central  Massachusetts 
Railroad  from  Amherst  to  Northamp- 
ton was  in  process  of  construction. 
Near  Prof.  Charlie's  house  there 
was  a  camp  of  Italian  workmen. 
A  couple  of  the  '90  men  went  down 
comparatively  early  to  look  over 
the  ground.  As  they  neared  the 
house,  Prof.  Charlie  appeared  on 
the  scene.  There  was  consternation 
for  a  minute  till  one  of  the  boys 
conceived  the  idea  of  asking  Charlie 
to  direct  them  to  the  Italian  camp. 
This  excuse  passed  as  an  explana- 
tion for  the  presence  of  the  boys 
in  that  part  of  town  at  that  hour. 
At  any  rate  it  allayed  Charlie's 
suspicions,  if  he  had  any,  and  he 
went  on  his  way  to  the  village  to 
prayer  meeting. 
51 


After  dark,  Duffey,  Durgin,  Ingalls, 
Child  and  Raymond,  gathered  at 
Charlie's  house,  and  no  one  being 
at  home,  they  searched  the  house. 
It  was  first  assumed  that  the  barn 
could  not  be  the  hiding  place  of 
Sabrina,  since  rumor  had  it  that 
the  old  darky  had  secluded  her 
safely  in  the  house.  They  got  into 
the  house  through  the  cellar  and 
searched  the  entire  place,  to  no 
avail  of  course.  They  then  tried 
the  barn.  Unfastening  the  doors, 
one  of  the  men  struck  a  match.  At 
the  first  glimmer  of  light  Ingalls 
noticed  a  piece  of  white  cloth  which 
appeared  to  have  been  thrown  over 
an  image  of  some  kind.  They 
quickly  shifted  the  pieces  of  harness 
which  hung  near,  pulled  off  the 
cloth,  and  three  or  four  grasped  the 
statue,  and  carried  it  as  quietly 
and  quickly  as  possible  from  the 

52 


barn.  Avoiding  the  house  they 
started  off  through  the  fields  and 
got  into  freshly  plowed  ground. 
They  were  soon  winded,  especially 
the  man  who  was  carrying  the  head 
end  all  alone,  he  "  will  never  forget 
that  as  long  as  he  lives."  The 
statue  weighs  at  least  300  pounds. 
Ingalls  hurried  off  to  get  Guernsey's 
wheelbarrow,  and  after  that  the 
going  was  much  easier.  With  Sa- 
brina  in  the  wheelbarrow,  they 
quickly  took  her  to  Guernsey's  house, 
where  they  left  her  in  the  cellar 
over  night. 

That  night,  or  rather  the  early 
morning  of  June  20th,  a  big  celebra- 
tion had  been  planned.  '90  had 
nailed  its  class  pennant  to  the  flag 
pole  on  Chapel  Tower,  and  had 
effectually  barricaded  the  stairway. 
Funds  had  been  collected  for  an 
elaborate  re-introduction  of  Sabrina 
53 


to  the  college  at  that  time.  '89, 
however,  discovered  the  plans  too 
soon,  and  the  affair  dissolved  itself 
into  a  free-for-all  fight  for  the 
possession  of  Chapel  Tower  and 
the  flag.  It  was  a  fierce  contest,  and 
the  stairway  leading  to  the  top  was 
destroyed.  Harrison  had  his  leg 
broken  in  jumping  from  a  window, 
subsequent  to  the  report  that  the 
Faculty  were  coming.  The  pos- 
sibility of  a  surprise  appearance  of 
Sabrina  was  eliminated.  Conse- 
quently, early  that  morning,  the 
statue  was  taken  to  the  old  attic  in 
Guernsey's  house,  and  there  it  re- 
mained until  Commencement  time 
of  their  Sophomore  year,  1 888. 

Meanwhile  the  class  of  '90  had 
formed  the  intention  of  having  Sa- 
brina at  their  class  banquet  in 
New  London,  and  to  Kimball  of 
that  class  was  assigned  a  toast 

54 


on  Sabrina.  "Charles  Wells,  '91, 
heard  through  the  register  of  his 
room  several  Sophomores  talking 
in  a  study  below,  and  he  managed 
to  gather  from  the  hushed  voices 
that  they  were  going  to  take  some- 
thing, then  in  the  attic  of  Guern- 
sey's house,  to  their  class  banquet. 
Wells  waited  long  enough  to  hear 
some  of  their  final  arrangements, 
and  then  he  hurried  off  to  tell  two 
other  members  of  '91,  Allen  and 
Hammond,  and  together  they 
planned  a  capture.  '90  as  a  class 
had  already  taken  the  train  for  the 
dinner,  leaving  the  care  of  Sabrina 
in  the  hands  of  only  four  men. 
On  the  appointed  day  about  ten 
men  of  the  class  of  '91  gathered 
in  Wells'  room  on  Woodside  Avenue. 
Among  these  were  Morris,  Hamilton, 
Crosier,  Knight,  Woodruff,  Luding- 
ton,  Hammond,  and  Crocker.  Old 
55 


Guernsey  with  two  husky  Sophs 
on  the  seat  soon  appeared,  driving 
a  wagon  containing  the  bulky  form 
of  Sabrina  wrapped  in  a  gunny  sack. 
In  front  of  Wells'  house,  Kimball 
of  '90  and  another  man  of  that 
class  joined  the  expressman.  The 
'91  men  followed  under  cover  of 
the  trees.  At  the  road  leading  from 
Woodside  Avenue  up  to  Chapel, 
the  Sophs  left  the  team  for  some 
unknown  reason  and  cut  across 
the  hill  to  the  Central  Vermont 
Station,  thus  leaving  the  statue  un- 
protected." This  was  a  signal  for 
the  '91  men.  As  soon  as  the  Sophs 
were  around  the  corner  they  sprang 
out  from  hiding.  Three  of  them 
seized  Guernsey  and  held  the  horse, 
while  others  moved  Sabrina  into 
a  buggy  which  Crozier  and  Morris 
had  found  up  by  "  Tip's  "  Lab,  and 
had  brought  down  the  hill  in  the 

56 


front  of  Chapel  just  in  the  nick 
of  time,  as  old  Guernsey  was 
being  waylaid.  Wells  and  Allen 
were  soon  on  the  Hamp  Road  with 
this  '  borrowed  team  '  at  a  gallop, 
and  the  plan  of  the  class  of  '90  to 
take  Sabrina  to  their  class  dinner 
and  resurrect  her  glorified  form  in 
special  festivities  came  to  naught. 
Some  of  the  fellows  wandered  down 
to  the  Central  Vermont  Station,  and 
were  there  when  old  Guernsey  came 
jogging  along  with  his  empty  wagon. 
Dunham,  Fahy,  and  some  other 
fellows  were  standing  there,  and 
their  consternation  when  they  saw 
the  empty  wagon  is  better  imagined 
than  described. 

'  Where  is  it?"  they  angrily  de- 
manded of  the  old  man. 

'  They  got  it,"  he  meekly  replied. 

"  Who  got  it?" 

"  I  guess  they  was  Freshmen." 
57 


The  rest  of  the  conversation  is 
better  imagined  than  printed.  It 
has  never  been  reported  what  was 
said  in  Kimball's  toast  to  Sabrina 
that  night  at  New  London — but 
'91  never  cared. 

'Wells  and  Allen,  '91,  mean- 
while were  fast  approaching  the 
Connecticut  with  their  fair  burden. 
By  the  time  they  reached  the  river 
the  horse  was  well-nigh  exhausted 
and,  fearing  pursuit,  they  drove 
up  stream  a  little  way  and  dumped 
Sabrina  into  the  river.  Then  they 
drove  back  to  Amherst  only  to  be 
met  half-way  by  the  irate  owner 
of  the  rig,  who  threatened  suit  for 
horse-stealing,  damages  for  injury 
done  to  the  horse,  and  a  whole 
lot  of  other  disagreeable  things. 
It  is  said  that  he  was  paid  a  nominal 
sum  for  the  unbargained  rent  of  his 
horse  and  buggy.  At  any  rate  no 

suit  was  brought." 

58 


Sabrina  slept  that  summer  under 
the  cool  waters  of  the  Connecticut, 
sunken  well  out  of  sight.  "  In  the 
fall,  when  the  excitement  had  qui- 
eted down,  Wells  fished  her  out 
of  the  Connecticut  and  took  her 
to  his  home  in  Hatfield,  where  she 
was  boarded  up  in  a  room  without 
any  doors,  there  to  remain  until 
the  Sophomore  banquet  of  the  class 
of  '91,  at  New  London,  Conn. 
The  following  is  a  poem  descriptive 
of  the  preceding  episode  which 
was  published  in  the  '91  Olio. 
It  is  entitled  "  Sabrina." 

The  summer  term  was  closing  fast, 
When  through  old  Amherst  village  passed 
The  Class  of  Ninety,  on  the  road 
To  the  depot  with  their  precious  load, 
Sabrina. 

For  now,  indeed,  'twas  their  intent 
To  add  to  joy  and  merriment 
By  taking,  their  festive  board  to  grace, 
The  maiden  with  the  pretty  face, 

Sabrina. 
59 


This  fact  has  oft  come  to  our  ken, 
The  best  laid  plans  of  mice  and  men 
Do  fail.     And  this  was  just  the  case 
With  Ninety  and  that  form  of  grace, 
Sabrina. 

For  to  the  Class  of  Ninety-One 
Thejmowledge  of  their  plan  had  come, 
And  each  man  solemnly  declared 
"  This  toast  to-night  shall  not  be  heard, 
Sabrina." 

So  when  Old  Guernsey,  in  his  cart, 
For  the  New  London  Northern  made  a  start 
With  that  fair  Goddess  snug  within, 
At  once  the  Freshmen  howled  like  sin, 
"  Sabrina." 

"  Deter  me  not,"  the  old  man  said, 
In  mortal  terror  for  his  head, 
"  The  power  of  Ninety  is  great  and  wide," 
But  loud  a  clarion  voice  replied, 
"  Sabrina." 

And  e'en  before  the  dear  old  man 
Had  really  grasped  their  wicked  plan, 
He  heard  mid  sounds  of  trampling  feet 
A  voice  which  cried  far  up  the  street, 
"  Sabrina." 

60 


They  drove  the  maid  o'er  hill  and  dale 
Until  they  reached  a  gloomy  vale, 
And  then  without  a  hymn  or  prayer, 
In  silence  grim,  they  buried  there, 
Sabrina. 

The  Sophomores  they  cussed  and  swore 
Of  oaths  some  ninety  gross  or  more; 
But  to  their  supper  had  to  go 
Without  the  girl  they'd  longed  for  so, 
Sabrina. 

And  if  to-day  you  wish  to  cloy 
Some  dainty  little  Ninety  boy, 
It  always  works  for  reasons  clear, 
To  whisper  softly  in  his  ear, 
"  Sabrina!" 


61 


'91  C>  June,  1889,  the  class  of  '91 
(1887-1889)  had  its  Sophomore  banquet  at  Watch 
Hill,  R.  I.  Sabrina  was  in  at- 
tendance and  was  cheered  and 
honored  as  never  before.  The  class 
chartered  a  tug  and  after  a  trip 
about  the  Sound  followed  the  Yale- 
Harvard  boat  race  with  Sabrina 
still  seated  proudly  in  a  place  of 
honor  in  the  bow.  The  day  was 
fair  and  the  charming  Goddess 
caused  quite  a  sensation  among  the 
followers  of  the  race.  Many  were  the 
questions  asked  among  the  crowd,  — 
and  strange  to  say  none  knew  who 
the  fair  figure  was.  H.  C.  Crocker 
was  acting  as  guardian.  That  even- 
ing she  was  taken  by  train  to 
Westerly,  R.  I.,  and  then  to  Watch 
Hill  by  wagon.  She  appeared  dur- 
ing the  banquet  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  carried  by  four  men 
who  walked  around  the  tables  with 

62 


Sabrma  on  their  shoulders,  while 
the  '91  men  sang, 

Sabrina,  Sabrina,  we  drink  to  thee, 
And  every  son  of  '9 1  will  in  the  chorus  be. 

Sabrma,  according  to  the  '91  men, 
seemed  to  like  their  company  much 
better  than  that  of  the  class  of  '90. 
This  is  not  printed  as  authentic, 
however. 

'90  and  '92  made  many  attempts  '93 
to  recapture  Sabrina,  but  to  no  (1899-1891) 
avail.  The  '91  men  proved  ardent 
and  capable  guardians  and,  "  in 
the  fall  of  1 889  she  was  handed 
to  the  then  Freshman  class  of  '93, 
who  kept  her  during  the  fall  and 
winter  in  the  same  barn  in  Hatfield, 
at  the  home  of  Wells,  '91.  In 
February  of  1 890,  Sabrina  was 
taken  by  wagon  at  midnight  from 
Hatfield  to  Northampton,  and  from 
there  shipped  to  Springfield,  where 
63 


she  was  present  at  the  '93  Freshman 
class  supper.  During  this  year  she 
was  under  the  direct  charge  of 
Schauffler,  then  president  of  the 
class,  who  kept  her  under  a  haymow 
in  a  barn  at  Claremont,  New 
Hampshire.  Later  she  was  given 
into  the  charge  of  the  Class  Execu- 
tive Committee." 

Plans  were  then  made  by  '93 
for  a  Sophomore  banquet  in  Boston, 
in  June,  1891.  "For  about  a 
year  prior  to  this  time,  Sabrina 
had  been  kept  in  a  deposit  ware- 
house in  Springfield,  Mass.  The 
duty  of  taking  Sabrina  from  Spring- 
field to  the  class  dinner  in  Boston 
was  entrusted  to  a  committee.  By 
lot  it  was  arranged  that  James 
Breed  should  take  the  statue  to 
Boston,  and  that  E.  R.  Houghton 
should  bring  her  back  to  Spring- 
field, and  see  that  she  was  again 

64 


placed  in  the  warehouse.  Breed  at- 
tended to  the  boxing  and  taking 
of  the  statue  to  Boston,  and  accom- 
panied her  in  the  express  car, 
the  box  having  been  addressed  to 
him  at  Boston."  Sabrina  appeared 
safe  and  sound  at  the  banquet,  and 
was  duly  toasted,  cheered,  and 
kissed.  In  the  light  of  subsequent 
happenings  and  the  vociferous  dis- 
approval of  Sabrina  by  all  present- 
day  odd  classmen,  the  following 
selection  from  the  '93  Olio,  pub- 
lished before  she  was  stolen,  is 
interesting  as  a  proof  that  it  is  all 
a  question  of  whether  one  is  on 
the  inside  looking  out  or  the  outside 
looking  in.  At  any  rate,  Sabrina 
was  well  loved  by  '93,  their  dinner 
was  a  great  success,  and  this  is  what 
they  said: 

"  Shall  we,  who  at  that  time 
looked  upon  our  '  fostering  divinity,' 
65 


ever  forget  her  as  she  sat  at  the 
head  of  the  table,  surrounded  with 
beautiful  flowers?  Can  we  fully 
realize  what  an  odd  and  capricious 
fate  has  been  hers?  What  con- 
trasts of  life  her  homes  have  af- 
forded! From  the  unbroken  still- 
ness of  the  haymow,  and  the  damp 
silence  of  the  cellar,  she  has  been 
placed  among  rushing  waters  at 
the  bottom  of  the  Connecticut,  and 
again  carried  over  the  land,  in 
the  dead  of  night,  by  the  swift 
locomotivej  She  has  seen  the  ter- 
rors of  the  dark  forest  contrasted 
with  the  gay  lighted  table,  the 
feast  and  the  songs!  But  through 
all  these  vicissitudes  she  has  re- 
mained and  will  remain,  let  us 
hope,  through  more  tranquil  years, 
'  our  fostering  divinity,  Sabrina.'  ' 
After  this  banquet  in  Boston, 
which  was  at  the  old  Tremont 

66 


House,  Hough  ton  "  took  charge  of 
the  statue,  rubbed  out  the  address 
'  Boston  '  and  inserted  '  Springfield  ' 
in  its  place."  Then  he  reshipped 
it  by  the  American  Express  Co.  to 
Springfield,  but  did  not  personally 
accompany  the  statue,  planning  in- 
stead to  go  to  that  city  by  way  of 
Amherst  the  next  day  to  see  to 
removing  it  to  a  place  of  conceal- 
ment. Meanwhile,  things  had  been 
happening  in  Amherst,  and  this  is 
why  Houghton  found  no  Sabrina 
waiting  for  him  the  next  day  in 
Springfield. 

The  class   of  '94  was  now  in  its        '94 
Freshman  year.     It  was  an  energetic  (1891-1894) 
class  and  had  determined  to  capture 
Sabrina.     A    committee    was    ap- 
pointed and  charged  with  the  duty 
of  rescuing  her  from  '93,  the  then 
Sophomore     class.      Nothing     was 
67 


known  of  her  until  one  day  late  in  the 
spring  President  Wood  of  '94 
learned  through  his  well  organized 
system  of  scouts  that  the  banquet 
was  being  held  in  the  Tremont 
House  at  Boston.  Several  other 
men  of  '94,  who  were  intensely 
interested  in  the  subject,  as  soon 
as  they  heard  of  the  banquet,  formed 
a  pool  and  sent  Ben  Hyde  well 
financed,  to  Boston,  with  the  sole 
instruction  to  get  Sabrina.  "  Hyde 
went  to  Boston  and  found  that  the 
'93  men  had  really  been  at  the 
Tremont  House  the  night  before. 
By  a  judicious  use  of  gold  he  suc- 
ceeded in  extracting  from  the  head 
porter  of  the  hotel  the  fact  that  a 
large  box  had  been  shipped  that 
morning  to  Springfield  in  the  name 
of  E.  R.  Houghton.  Hyde  took 
the  first  train  to  Springfield,  walked 
into  the  American  Express  Office, 

68 


apparently  in  a  terrible  hurry,  and 
asked  if  a  large  case  had  been 
received  from  Boston,  addressed  to 
E.  R.  Houghton.  The  clerk  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative  and  said 
it  was  in  the  back  room.  If  you 
have  ever  sat  in  a  little  game  with 
four  spades  and  one  heart,  you  will 
appreciate  that  Hyde  had  to  think 
quickly  and  put  up  a  good  bluff 
if  he  was  to  win.  He  put  up  the 
bluff — and  it  went."  He  asked  the 
clerk  if  he  had  not  received  his 
telegram  to  ship  the  box  immedi- 
ately back  to  Boston.  The  clerk 
said  he  had  not,  but  that  the  head 
clerk  was  out  and  he  would  look 
through  the  files.  Hyde  realized 
his  chance  and  pursued  the  fellow 
relentlessly,  telling  him  he  must 
have  received  the  telegram,  and 
that  it  was  a  matter  of  serious  con- 
sequence to  all  concerned  to  have 
69 


delayed  the  return  of  the  box.  By 
this  time  Hyde  had  the  poor  clerk 
pretty  well  scared,  and  since  of 
course  no  telegram  could  be  found, 
Hyde  gave  a  dramatic  oath,  and 
demanded  when  the  next  train  went 
to  Boston.  The  clerk  hurriedly 
looked  at  his  watch.  By  good 
luck  there  was  one  going  in  fifteen 
minutes.  Hyde  demanded  if  he 
could  get  it  on  that  train  for  him. 
An  empty  express  wagon  was  stand- 
ing at  the  door,  and  Hyde  gave 
the  man  a  dollar  to  take  the  box 
at  once  to  the  train.  Ben  Hyde 
then  signed  a  receipt  in  his  own 
name,  the  frightened  clerk  not  notic- 
ing that  it  was  not  the  name  to 
which  the  box  had  been  addressed. 
In  ten  minutes  the  statue  was  on 
the  train,  bound  for  Boston  again. 
On  the  way,  Hyde  decided  upon 
his  subsequent  plan  of  action.  At 

70 


Worcester  he  sent  a  telegram  to  an 
old  colored  fellow  in  his  father's 
employ  in  Boston,  to  meet  him  at 
the  train  with  a  wagon,  and  to  say 
nothing  to  any  one  of  the  instructions. 
Hyde  had  known  this  old  servant 
for  a  long  time  and  was  confident 
that  he  could  be  trusted;  in  many 
ways  too  he  was  an  extremely 
valuable  man,  for  he  knew  Boston 
thoroughly.  The  darky  met  him 
at  the  station  and  the  two  drove 
away  with  the  box.  Hardly  had 
they  taken  it  from  the  train,  when 
the  news  leaked  out,  and  for  a 
few  days  there  was  the  liveliest 
kind  of  a  time  keeping  ahead  of  the 
detectives.  It  was  not  quite  so 
simple  as  one  might  think  to  conceal 
a  box  of  that  size.  The  old  darky, 
however,  proved  invaluable.  He 
knew  lots  of  hiding  places  in  and 
out  of  Boston;  so  Hyde  told  him 

71 


the  whole  story  and  promised  him 
a  big  sum  of  money  if  he  would 
move  the  box  every  day  and  make 
sure  that  the  detectives  did  not 
get  hold  of  it.  The  old  man  liked 
the  proposition;  perhaps  it  roused 
his  fighting  blood.  At  any  rate, 
he  fulfilled  his  duties  to  the  letter. 
First  he  hid  the  statue  in  an  old 
blacksmith's  shop  in  Cambridge. 
Two  days  later  he  moved  it  to  the 
cellar  of  a  colored  Poker  Club. 
Then  Sabrina  spent  a  couple  of 
days  hidden  among  the  wharves  of 
the  big  city,  labelled  "  machinery." 
From  the  wharves,  the  darky  took 
the  box  to  the  cellar  of  an  old  house 
in  the  South  End  of  Boston. 

Meanwhile,  Hyde  had  returned 
to  Amherst,  only  to  find  that  the 
Express  Company  had  a  warrant 
out  for  his  arrest,  and  that  '93  had 
raised  a  sum  of  money  to  finance  a  •. 

72 


search  for  Sabrina.  Hyde  quickly 
disappeared,  supposedly  to  Boston; 
but  in  reality  he  went  to  New  York 
and  jumped  on  a  steamer  bound 
for  Europe,  just  as  it  was  leaving 
the  dock,  and  spent  the  next  two 
or  three  months  abroad  waiting 
for  the  excitement  to  die  out.  Only 
two  men  of  '94  knew  until  his 
return  where  he  had  gone. 

The  '93  Committee  had  urged 
the  Express  Company  to  get  out 
the  warrant  for  Hyde's  arrest,  and 
they  and  the  detectives  were  only 
twenty-four  hours  behind  him  in 
their  search.  As  soon  as  Hyde 
had  slipped  through  their  fingers, 
they  turned  all  their  attention  to 
finding  the  statue.  The  Express 
Company  traced  it  to  the  darky 
in  Hyde's  father's  office.  Detec- 
tives appeared  one  day  in  that 
office  and  threatened  the  old  servant 
73 


with  immediate  arrest.  The  latter, 
however,  had  not  been  around  a 
law  office  all  his  life  for  nothing. 
He  was  pretty  sure  that  they  had 
only  a  suspicion  at  the  most,  so  he 
denied  everything  and  paid  no  at- 
tention to  their  threats.  After  the 
detectives  had  left,  he  went  to  one 
of  the  members  of  the  firm  for  reas- 
surance and  told  him  the  whole 
story.  This  member  promised 
secrecy  and  advised  the  darky  to 
bluff  it  out,  and  ask  them  for  the 
warrant  if  they  ever  tried  to  arrest 
him.  The  old  fellow  found  they 
had  no  warrant  for  him,  so  he 
remained  firm  to  his  word  to  Hyde. 
The  rest  of  the  '94  Committee  were 
soon  in  touch  with  him  with  some 
more  money,  and  thus  clinched 
things. 

Naturally    Hyde's    father    looked 
into  the  matter  a  little,   and  found 

74 


that  the  statue  had  been  received 
as  stolen  property  by  '93  and  that 
it  had  been  taken  from  Amherst 
College  by  the  class  of  '90.  Hyde 
Sr.,  being  at  that  time  a  trustee 
of  the  college,  went  to  one  of  the 
officials  of  the  Express  Company, 
with  whom  he  was  well  acquainted, 
and  told  him  the  circumstances, 
showing  that  the  Express  Company 
had  no  reason  to  prosecute  the  mat- 
ter until  Amherst  College  should 
request  them  to  do  so.  For  the 
statue  was  the  property  of  the  college 
and  the  class  of  '93  had  no  claim 
on  it  whatever.  Accordingly  the 
matter  was  dropped  by  the  Express 
Company,  and  '93  was  left  to  fight 
out  the  battle  alone. 

Upon  hearing  that  the  affair  had 
been  settled  so  far  as  the  legal  side 
was  concerned,  Ben  Hyde  returned 
from  Europe  and  was  fittingly  wel- 

75 


corned  by  the  men  of  his  class,  in 
recognition  of  his  services  to  the 
good  cause.  Thus  to  these  old 
Amherst  men  of  '94  are  all  present- 
day  Sabrina  men  indebted  for  that 
inestimable  privilege  of  their  college 
life. 

After  Hyde's  return,  the  colored 
guardian  pro  tem.was  duly  rewarded, 
and  the  statue  was  officially  turned 
over  to  the  President  of  '94,  "  Doc  " 
Stone.  "  A  committee  proceeded 
at  once  to  lay  plans  for  a  Sophomore 
banquet  at  which  Sabrina  should 
be  present.  A  difficulty  to  contend 
with  of  course  was  not  only  the 
activity  of  '93  but  the  chance  that 
that  class  might  induce  the  Express 
Company  to  again  take  legal  proceed- 
ings in  order  to  repossess  themselves  of 
the  statue,  if  its  location  was  once  dis- 
covered. For  this  reason  much  time 
was  spent  by  the  committee  in 

76 


THE  '94  PICTURE  OF  SABRINA 


selecting  a  proper  place  for  the 
dinner,  and  great  precautions  were 
taken  in  order  to  secure  the  arrival 
of  the  class  at  the  point  agreed  upon 
without  notice  to  the  others  in 
Amherst.  After  making  personal 
inspection  of  many  places,  it  was 
finally  decided  that  Brattleboro,  Ver- 
mont, was  a  suitable  place;  this 
both  because  it  was  near  two  state 
lines,  so  that  if  '94  came  into  con- 
flict with  the  authorities  a  rapid 
change  of  jurisdiction  could  be  ef- 
fected, and  also  because  the  train 
schedule  at  that  time  rendered  pur- 
suit after  seven  or  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening  practically  impossible; 
besides,  the  committee  had  been 
able  to  perfect  a  plan  for  removing 
Sabrina  from  Brattleboro  in  a  fairly 
safe  way. 

The  class  was  listed  in  small  sec- 
tions, and  each  member  of  the 
77 


committee  took  charge  of  a  section. 
On  the  night  agreed  upon  for  the 
banquet,  each  of  these  sections  was 
informed  about  an  hour  before  the 
time  for  departure  that  a  special 
train  would  be  found  waiting  on  the 
New  London  and  Northern  R.  R., 
between  the  hat  factories.  The 
entire  class  reached  the  station  with- 
out exciting  suspicion.  The  lights 
were  all  out  on  the  train  as  it  slowly 
moved  into  the  station  and  took  on 
its  excited  passengers."  Ned  Burn- 
ham  had  written  a  song  which  we 
all  know  as  "  All  Hail,  Sabrina 
Dear!"  and  '94  sang  that  song  all 
the  way  up  to  the  banquet.  Many 
a  peaceful  hamlet  was  gently  aroused 
by  the  soft  strains  floating  out  on  the 
still  night  air, — 

All  hail!  Sabrina  dear, 

The  Widow  of  each  passing  year; 

Long  may  she  live  and  be 

The  Widow  of  posterity. 

78 


The  class  arrived  at  the  Brooks  House 
in  Brattleboro  at  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  and  no  notice  or  alarm 
had  yet  been  given  in  Amherst. 

For  some  time  prior  to  the 
banquet,  "Doc"  Stone,  then  guard- 
ian of  Sabrina,  now  Dean-elect  of 
Columbia  Law  School, — and  Ben 
Hyde,  now  a  very  prominent  lawyer 
in  Boston,  had  scoured  the  country 
in  the  vicinity  of  Brattleboro  with 
a  view  to  securing  a  proper  place 
in  which  to  hide  Sabrina.  Mean- 
while, through  the  assistance  of 
E.  B.  Smith,  a  '94  man  whose 
home  was  in  Brattleboro,  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  whereby 
Hyde  shipped  Sabrina  to  a  certain 
groceryman  in  Brattleboro,  known 
to  Smith,  who  received  her  in  a 
carload  of  miscellaneous  groceries 
and  placed  her  in  the  sub-cellar 
of  his  store  in  that  village.  "  Pre- 
79 


viously,  Hyde  and  Stone  had  made 
arrangements  with  Hermon  C.  Har- 
vey, a  well-known  citizen  of  Ches- 
terfield, New  Hampshire,  living 
about  eight  miles  from  Brattleboro 
just  over  the  state  line,  to  have 
Sabrina  secreted  under  the  floor  of 
his  barn.  Mr.  Harvey  possessed 
a  large  farm  near  the  main  high- 
way running  through  Brattleboro  to 
Chesterfield,  and  one  of  his  barns 
practically  opened  upon  the  highway. 
Stone  arranged  with  him  to  take  up 
the  floor  of  his  barn  on  the  night  of 
the  banquet  and  dig  a  hole  for  the  re- 
ception and  concealment  of  Sabrina. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of 
the  banquet,  through  the  aid  of 
Smith,  these  two  men  hired  a  pair 
of  horses  by  the  hour,  and  no 
questions  were  asked.  In  the  evening 
after  making  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments with  the  groceryman,  Stone 

80 


drove  to  his  store  and  with  the  aid 
of  Smith  loaded  Sabrina  into  the 
wagon,  and  took  her  to  the  rear 
entrance  of  the  Brooks  House.  He 
unloaded  the  statue  alone,  and  finally 
succeeded  in  carrying  it  into  a 
small  room  adjoining  the  banquet 
hall.  A  few  minutes  later  the  class 
arrived  in  a  body  by  the  special  train 
from  Amherst.  Sabrina  was  then 
unboxed,  and  formally  introduced 
to  the  class  of  '94  amid  thunderous 
applause  and  the  ringing  cheers  of 
the  banqueters.  It  was  a  long  time 
ere  the  excitement  died  out, —  the 
enthusiasm  lasted  all  through  the 
evening,  with  songs,  toasts  and 
cheers.  After  each  '94  man  had 
warmly  embraced  Sabrina  and 
kissed  her  rosy  lips,  she  was  loaded 
into  the  wagon  again,  and  ac- 
companied by  Hyde,  Howe  and 
Smith,  Stone  drove  over  the  hills 
81 


to  Mr.  Harvey's  barn.  The  night 
was  extremely  dark  and  as  there 
were  no  lights  the  team  had  some 
narrow  escapes  before  reaching  its 
destination.  On  the  way  out  of 
Brattleboro,  a  rear  guard  of  the 
football  men  was  left  at  various 
points  in  order  to  prevent  pursuit." 

On  arriving  at  the  barn,  Stone 
and  Hyde  found  everything  left 
in  readiness  by  Mr.  Harvey.  Not 
knowing,  however,  the  exact  dimen- 
sions of  the  box,  he  had  not  dug  the 
hole  large  enough,  and  they  found 
that  they  could  not  store  her  under 
the  floor  in  the  box.  Consequently 
they  were  obliged  to  remove  Sa- 
brina  from  the  box,  leaving  her  under 
the  barn  floor,  covered  with  hay 
and  chaff.  The  men  replaced  the 
boards  as  best  they  could  and 
returned  across  the  state  line  to 
Brattleboro,  with  the  empty  box. 

82 


When  they  reached  the  Connecticut 
River,  they  effaced  the  marks  on 
the  box  and  threw  it  into  the  river. 
The  two  men  then  proceeded  to 
Brattleboro,  just  as  dawn  was  break- 
ing, and  returned  with  their  class- 
mates on  the  special  train  to  Am- 
herst. 

'94  reached  Amherst  about  seven 
o'clock,  having  been  away  a  total 
of  nine  hours.  They  had  stolen 
off  so  quietly  that  the  college  knew 
nothing  of  their  absence.  As  the 
'93  and  '95  men  came  to  breakfast 
that  morning,  the  Sophomores  told 
them  glowing  stories  of  the  banquet. 
The  odd  classmen  were  inclined  to 
be  skeptical  and  would  not  believe 
until  they  saw  the  accounts  in  the 
papers.  Then  the  fact  that  several 
men  had  missed  their  room-mates 
sufficed  to  convince  the  doubters 
that  '94  had  really  had  its  banquet 
and  had  seen  Sabrina. 
83 


During  the  next  few  days,  there 
were  many  rumors  of  detective  work 
done  in  Brattleboro  and  vicinity, 
but  those  in  charge  felt  certain  that 
they  had  covered  their  tracks  so 
effectively  that  there  could  be  no 
danger  of  discovery. 

Early  in  the  following  fall,  how- 
ever, some  excitement  was  caused 
by  a  stranger  who  met  Hyde  at  an 
athletic  meet  in  Springfield.  The 
stranger  claimed  he  knew  where 
Sabrina  was  hidden.  Stone  was  in 
Amherst  that  day  and  Hyde  tele- 
graphed him  at  once.  Stone  dis- 
creetly declined,  however,  to  move 
or  show  any  interest,  and  the  '93 
bluff  failed.  They  had  had  detec- 
tives watching  Stone  and  if  they 
could  scare  him  into  going  to 
Sabrina's  hiding  place  to  make  cer- 
tain of  her  safety,  all  the  detectives 
would  have  had  to  do  would  have 

84 


been  to  follow  Stone.  Later  in  the 
fall,  however,  about  Thanksgiving 
time,  Stone  did  slip  up  to  Chester- 
field again,  had  a  box  made,  and 
packed  Sabrina  for  shipment.  He 
had  her  carried  over  to  Hinsdale  and 
from  there  shipped  by  freight  to 
Ben  Hyde  in  Boston,  under  a  ficti- 
tious name.  '94  then  took  up  plans 
to  turn  Sabrina  over  to  '96,  at  the 
latter's  Freshman  banquet.  At  the 
last  moment,  however;  it  was  decided 
that  the  risk  was  too  great,  and  the 
actual  transfer  was  not  made  until 
the  Sophomore  banquet  of  '96. 

'  The    class    of     '96     was     in-         '96 
troduced  to  the  service  of  the  gracious  (1893-1895) 
Queen    Sabrina    immediately    upon 
entering  college  in  the  fall  of  1892. 
It  was   then   being   openly   avowed 
that    the    concerted    efforts    of    the 
odd     classes,    alumni    as    well     as 
85 


student  body,  would  spare  neither 
money  nor  effort  to  capture  the 
statue  and  prevent  it  from  descending 
from  '94  to  '96.  The  latter  were 
told  that  stern  Fate  and  even  the 
Faculty  were  against  them.  Had 
not  the  class  of  '94  by  clandestine 
courtship  taken  the  Queen  from  the 
suitors  of  '93,  thereby  shocking  the 
Faculty,  outraging  the  business  con- 
ventions of  an  Express  Company, 
even  breaking  the  iron  laws  of  the 
old  Commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts? Had  not  a  prize  been  offered 
for  the  capture  of  the  eloping  Queen, 
and  dire  punishment  threatened  her 
suitor,  if  caught  and  convicted? 
Had  not  '  Old  Doc,'  amid  the 
vociferations  of  '94,  in  the  gymnasi- 
um, pounded  more  vigorously  and 
shouted  more  lustily, — 'Gentlemen, 
gentlemen,  I  must  be  obeyed.  I 
love  you,  but  I  must  be  obeyed'? 

86 


Had  not  the  Jove-like  Faculty,  with 
a  sense  of  scandalized  propriety 
that  a  college  sport  should  be  car- 
ried to  the  infraction  of  laws,  put 
on  its  specs  in  search  of  a  possible 
victim?  The  atmosphere  was 
charged  with  rumors  subsequent  to 
the  report  that  Sabrina  was  really 
in  the  hands  of  '94,  that  they  had 
stolen  her  from  an  express  company 
and  had  had  her  at  their  banquet. 
Such  was  the  atmosphere  through 
which  '96  tried  to  see  its  way  to 
its  Freshman  banquet. 

'96,  however,  did  have  its  supper. 
It  was  in  February,  1893,  at  the 
Mansion  House,  Greenfield,  Mass. 
So  exciting  was  this  event  that 
later  '96  men  were  almost  denied 
the  benefit  of  a  college  education. 
Of  course,  it  was  never  seriously 
expected  that,  as  Freshmen,  they 
would  have  Sabrina  so  near  Old 
87 


Amherst.  But  no  chances  were 
taken.  Arrangements  were  being 
made  for  a  special  train  on  the 
Vermont  Central,  to  be  boarded  at 
the  crossing  one  mile  north  of  the 
Amherst  Station.  So  far  the  plans 
worked  like  a  charm,  but  as  the 
special  slowed  up  for  the  embarka- 
tion, a  whoop  like  that  of  maddened 
savages  issued  from  the  car.  The 
entire  class  of  '95  and  many  '93 
men  had  preceded  '94  as  uninvited 
guests.  In  some  mysterious  way 
they  had  discovered  the  time  at 
which  the  class  was  to  leave  town. 
Fortunately,  no  one  knew  where 
the  supper  was  to  be.  A  whispered 
suggestion  that  the  guests  must  be 
prevented  from  going  to  Brattleboro 
had  the  right  psychological  effect. 
At  Millers  Falls  '96  was  ordered 
off  the  train  and  '95  and  '93  were 
formally  challenged  to  wage  combat. 

88 


'  No,  no,'  cried  they,  thinking 
this  was  a  '96  ruse  to  get  them  off 
the  train.  Immediately  upon  their 
exultant  refusal,  a  number  of  '96 
men  seized  and  held  the  doors, 
while  the  train  was  ordered  forward 
at  full  speed,  and  all  the  unwelcome 
guests  were  carried  out  of  the  way. 
The  odd  classmen  had  been  thor- 
oughly outwitted.  The  real  destina- 
tion of  '96,  of  course,  was  Green- 
field, but  the  scare  had  been  too 
great  to  risk  bringing  Sabrina  into 
that  region,  so  Stone,  '94,  did  not 
take  her  to  the  banquet.  He  re- 
turned her  immediately  to  Boston. 

'96  had  a  successful  banquet 
otherwise,  however.  In  fact  the  suc- 
cess of  having  outwitted  '95  was  too 
much  for  some  of  the  fellows.  Green- 
field was  painted  the  proverbial  red. 
The  next  morning,  President  Gates 
summoned  the  leaders  of  '96  to  his 
89 


official  sanctum,  where  sat  the  sheriff 
of  Greenfield,  who  submitted  to  the 
class,  bills  which  ran  as  follows : 

To  one  spectacle  sign,  $10.00 

To  one  barber  pole,  5.00 

To  photographer's  showcase,  25.00 
To  doorplates,  bearing  the 

words  'private,*  etc.,  each  3.00 

To  napkins,  35.00 

To  tea  spoons,  50.00 

The  reputation  of  the  class  would 
certainly  have  been  ruined  had  not 
opportunity  been  given  for  a  guarded 
return  of  the  pilfered  prizes  to  the 
van  wagon  which  toted  the  relics 
back  to  Greenfield. 

Next  year,  however,  during  the 
Winter  Term,  came  the  great  event, 
when  as  Sophomores  '96  dined 
at  Nassau,  New  Hampshire.  By 
special  train  again,  in  which  were 
involved  high  officials  of  the  railway, 
who  entered  into  the  sport  from 

90 


President  down  to  Trainmen,  the 
entire  class,  this  time  without  un- 
invited guests,  assembled  like  bandits 
outside  the  jurisdiction  of  Old  Massa- 
chusetts." The  ride  to  Nassau  was 
a  most  hilarious  one,  with  singing 
and  cheers.  The  men  of  '95  had 
no  suspicion,  in  fact  they  did  not 
know  of  the  banquet  until  Chapel 
the  next  morning. 

To  preside  at  this  feast,  Sabrina 
had  been  awakened  from  her  long 
nap  in  a  sausage  factory  in  Boston, 
where  Hyde  had  stored  her.  Prop- 
erly to  travel  incognito,  thereby 
avoiding  the  vigilance  of  express 
offices,  she  went  from  Boston  to 
Nassau  under  the  name  of  "  Photo- 
graphic Supplies.  Handle  with 
Care."  She  was  brought  to  the 
banquet  by  Stone,  '94,  and  there 
formally  turned  over  to  '96.  Charles 
J.  Staples,  now  a  very  prominent 
91 


lawyer  of  Buffalo,  was  the  recipient 
guardian.  "  She  was  given  a  most 
enthusiastic  reception  and  occupied 
the  seat  of  honor  at  the  table.  After 
Sabrina  had  been  hugged  and  ca- 
ressed and  fittingly  toasted,  she  disap- 
peared in  the  arms  of  the  football 
men  of  '96,  and  by  devious  routes 
and  frequent  changes  was  cautiously 
taken  across  the  state  line  into 
Vermont,  and  there  locked  away 
from  the  next  day's  light  in  a  granary. 
To  add  to  the  pleasure  and  by 
way  of  a  ruse,  the  new  guardian, 
Staples,  had  the  box  in  which  she 
had  travelled  from  the  packing 
house  in  Boston  to  Nassau  packed 
with  rubbish  and  shipped  under 
guard  from  Nassau  to  Connecticut, 
with  all  the  care  that  might  have  at- 
tended the  real  Queen.  By  the  great 
daring  and  cunning  of  *95,  joined 
with  the  intentional  negligence  of 

92 


'96,  this  box  labelled  'Photographic 
Supplies.  Handle  with  Care,'  fell 
into  the  odd  classmen's  hands. 
Great  was  the  rejoicing  among  them 
until  the  box  was  opened,  when, 
behold,  instead  of  Sabrina,  they 
found  a  lot  of  iron  scrap  lodged  in 
some  bad  straw.  '95  never  fully 
recovered  from  this  disappointment, 
and  it  was  a  source  of  considerable 
amusement  for  '96.  The  next  night, 
after  the  celebration,  Staples  took 
Sabrina  with  great  care  from  the 
granary  and  placed  her  in  a  deep 
cistern  in  the  attic  of  a  house 
in  Brandon,  Vermont."  Nothing 
could  touch  her  there,  Staples  felt 
sure. 

Imagine  the  feelings  of  Sta- 
ples, however,  when,  attending  a 
society  function  at  Smith  College 
one  evening,  he  heard  a  certain 
Smith  College  Sophomore  say  in 
93 


the  presence  of  himself  and  some 
'95  men,  "  Oh,  I  know  all  about 
Sabrina  and  where  she  is,"  and 
then  Staples  heard  this  same  young 
lady,  when  asked  for  information, 
say,  "  Why  Sabrina  is  in  a  certain 
house  in  Brandon,  Vermont,  in  a 
cistern  in  the  attic."-  -"Great  Gods!" 
thought  Staples,  pretending  not  to 
hear  and  making  a  desperate  at- 
tempt to  control  his  features,  in 
order  not  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  '95  men  present.  These  latter 
were  keenly  alive  to  all  the  girl 
said,  but  made  no  move  to  follow 
the  matter  until  the  evening  was 
over.  Meanwhile,  Staples  had 
made  his  excuses  as  best  he  could, 
and  "  without  change  from  dress 
clothes  catching  the  first  train  north, 
appeared  the  next  morning  in  the 
little  Vermont  town.  He  secretly 
planned  to  remove  the  precious 

94 


charge  from  that  precarious  hole. 
But  how  had  Sabrina's  place  of 
concealment  become  known?  It  is 
the  usual  story.  There  was  only 
one  other  man  besides  Staples  who 
knew  of  her  hiding-place,  and  he 
was  the  most  faithful  fellow  on  earth. 
But  when  pinned  down  under  a 
fiery  cross-examination,  these  con- 
demning facts  appeared.  The  fel- 
low who  was  temporary  guardian 
of  Sabrina  on  the  Nassau  trip  had 
a  sweetheart  in  Boston,  who  read 
the  papers,  who  knew  that  this  young 
gentleman  was  a  '9(?  Amherst  man, 
and  who  in  quiet  moments  had 
heard  him  speak  of  going  to  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire.  What  more 
was  necessary  for  the  imaginative 
mind  of  the  young  lady?  She  had 
talked  the  matter  over  in  strict 
confidence  with  her  good  mother, 
who  in  turn  was  so  tremendously 
95 


interested  at  the  jolly  sport  of  college 
boys  that  she  had  to  tell  her  most 
intimate  friend  at  a  tea  party  in 
Boston,  which  friend,  in  turn,  had 
a  daughter  in  Smith  College,  and 
this  daughter,  on  a  recent  vacation 
home,  had  heard  the  now  rather 
amplified  story  of  Sabrina.  This 
sequence  of  confidences  is  what 
led  to  the  dramatic  climax  on  that 
evening  of  the  social  function  in 
Smith  College. 

But  within  twenty-four  hours  of 
this  event,  the  dear  Goddess  Sa- 
brina was  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
rapidly  pursuing  '95  men.  On 
the  wings  of  night  she  flew  to  western 
New  York,  appearing  to  be  in 
great  demand  as  "  Special  Machin- 
ery," and  thereafter  she  was  taken 
by  dray  over  long  country  roads 
until  finally  she  found  a  quiet 
habitation  under  lock  and  key  in  a 


carriage  room  in  a  small  country 
town  of  Elba,  New  York.  Here 
she  remained  in  blissful  security 
until  the  class  of  '98  had  so  grown 
in  grace  that  it  in  turn  could  take 
the  precious  charge. 

During  the  Freshman  year  of  the  '98 
class  of  '98,  '97  was  very  active  <1895-1897) 
in  trying  to  locate  Sabrina,  especially 
through  Richard  Billings,  President 
of  '97,  who  spent  considerable  time, 
energy  and  money  in  maintaining  a 
staff  of  Pinkerton  detectives.  Conse- 
quently no  attempt  was  made  by 
'96  to  transfer  Sabrina  to  '98  during 
the  latter's  Freshman  year.  '98 
had  a  Freshman  banquet  at  Hart- 
ford, but  Sabrina  was  not  in  attend- 
ance. To  make  up  for  this,  the 
enthusiastic  Freshmen  adopted  the 
spoons  and  forks  of  the  hotel  as 
memorials  of  the  occasion. 
97 


Samuel  B.  Furbish,  now  con- 
nected with  Bowdoin  College,  at 
Brunswick,  Me.,  was  chosen  '98 
guardian,  and  upon  his  being  in- 
formed that  he  had  been  honored 
with  the  custody  of  Sabrina,  "pre- 
pared to  go  to  Rotterdam  Junction, 
New  York,  to  get  possession  of  her. 
He  had  to  look  around  for  an 
excuse  to  get  out  of  town,  that  he 
might  not  excite  any  suspicion  among 
the  men  of  '97.  It  happened  that 
Furbish  had  a  cousin  in  Springfield 
who  was  seriously  ill,  and  for  three 
or  four  days  he  took  particular 
pains  to  tell  of  this  case  to  his  as- 
sociates, that  they  might  suppose 
he  had  gone  there  if  they  noted  his 
absence  at  all.  The  night  that  he 
had  chosen  to  leave  Amherst,  there 
happened  to  be  an  attractive  '  star  ' 
at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  North- 
ampton, so  Furbish  accompanied 

98 


the  crowd  as  far  as  that  city  and 
then  slipped  away  to  Greenfield. 
After  spending  the  night  at  Eagle 
Bridge,  New  York,  he  reached 
Rotterdam  Junction  the  next  morn- 
ing and  there  was  met  by  a  gen- 
tleman who,  after  severely  cross- 
examining  Furbish  with  a  series 
of  prescribed  questions,  took  his 
receipt  and  turned  over  the  very 
large  packing  box  which  contained 
the  far-famed  Sabrina."  That  after- 
noon Furbish  shipped  the  box  to 
a  mythical  manufacturing  company 
in  Bennington,  Vermont.  For  a 
time  it  looked  as  if  there  was  going 
to  be  trouble,  when  after  trying 
three  doors  of  the  express  car  it 
was  found  that  the  box  would  not 
go  in.  But  fortunately  the  fourth 
door  was  large  enough  to  let  it  pass, 
and  Sabrina  arrived  without  mishap 
at  Bennington,  Furbish  going  on 
'99 


the  same  train.  At  Bennington  the 
box  was  carried  to  the  stable  of 
the  Putnam  House  and  there  de- 
posited in  the  hayloft,  where  it  was 
unpacked,  and  the  Fair  Goddess 
again  saw  the  light  of  day.  She 
was  carried  to  a  small  room  adjoin- 
ing the  banquet  hall  of  the  hotel 
in  preparation  for  the  Sophomore 
banquet  of  the  class  of  '98  to  be 
held  there  that  night. 

"  Meanwhile,  in  the  evening  of 
this  14th  of  November,  1895,  the 
class  walked  to  North  Amherst  in 
small  groups,  where  they  hid  in  a 
ditch  in  the  pouring  rain  until  a 
special  train  picked  them  up  to 
take  them  to  Bennington.  No  out- 
breaks of  mirth  and  rejoicing  and 
no  lights  were  allowed  until  North 
Amherst  was  a  good  distance  behind. 
Then  the  class  let  loose,  and  with 
songs  and  cheers  showed  their  joy  at 

100 


having  outwitted  '97,  and  stolen 
away  without  being  discovered. 
Once  arrived  at  Bennington,  the  line 
of  march  formed,  and  rousing  the 
town  with  their  yells,  proceeded  to 
the  Putnam  House.  In  the  banquet 
hall  the  officers  of  the  class  and 
guests  of  honor  sat  at  the  head 
table,  while  immediately  opposite 
was  a  richly  upholstered  divan. 
Soon  the  folding  door  was  opened, 
and  amidst  shouts  of  applause  the 
beautiful  Sabrina  appeared  borne 
by  several  faithful  representatives  of 
the  gridiron.  A  toast  to  her  was 
then  given  and  following  that  the 
whole  class  in  long  line  passed 
around  and  she  received  from  each 
man  a  fond  caress.  Then  Sabrina 
withdrew,  and  the  class  sat  down 
to  a  sumptuous  banquet. 

It  was  a  sleepy,  tired,  but  happy 
gang  that  sought  the  cars  at  four 
101 


o'clock  that  morning.  Cushions 
were  made  into  beds  and  soon 
weary  men  could  be  seen  trying  to 
sleep,  but  in  vain.  Bands  of  sleep- 
less ones  roamed  up  and  down 
the  aisles,  shouting  and  singing. 
Day  dawned  at  last,  and  after  a 
brief  wait  at  Millers  Falls,  the 
special  train  sped  on  to  Amherst 
and  the  Chapel,  which  the  class 
attended  in  a  body  that  morning. 
They  laughed  and  jeered  at  their 
foiled  friends  of  '97  and  '99. 
Everyone  knew  that  '98  had  been 
on  its  class  supper  and  had  seen 
Sabrina." 

After  Sabrina  was  taken  from 
the  banquet  hall,  Furbish  again 
secured  her  in  the  box,  with  all 
the  hay  that  could  be  packed 
around  her.  Arrangements  had 
been  previously  made  for  a  team 
and  baggage  wagon  to  be  ready 

102 


at  one  o'clock  that  morning  to 
take  the  box  across  the  New 
York  boundary  to  the  town  of 
Cambridge,  where  they  arrived  in 
the  early  morning,  after  a  sleepy 
drive  through  the  rain,  and  over 
some  terrible  roads.  From  Cam- 
bridge, Furbish  shipped  the  box  by 
express  to  Albany,  and  upon  arriv- 
ing there,  took  it  to  a  blacksmith's 
shop  on  a  thoroughly  deserted  street. 
He  remained  there  for  some  hours 
to  see  if  any  one  seemed  to  be 
following  on  his  trail.  Everything 
was  quiet,  however,  and  he  took 
Sabrina  to  a  warehouse,  and  left 
her  there  in  safe  keeping  under  lock 
and  key,  to  remain  for  the  intervening 
time  until  the  next  guardian  should 
be  installed.  This  took  place  the 
last  of  October,  1897,  when  Fur- 
bish went  to  Albany  and  after 
taking  the  box  from  the  warehouse 
103 


turned   it  over  to   E.   E.   Green  of 
the  class  of  1 900. 

'00  The    class    of     1900     held     its 

Sophomore  banquet  on  Monday 
evening,  November  1,  1897,  at 
the  Hotel  Mohican  in  New  London. 
"  On  the  preceding  Saturday, 
Green,  '00,  had  gone  to  New 
London  and  carefully  made  arrange- 
ments to  prevent  any  possibility  of 
Sabrina's  being  captured  by  the 
members  of  the  odd  classes.  A 
trustworthy  driver  was  secured  and 
a  forty-mile  drive  across  the  state 
planned.  Green  secured  the  co- 
operation and  good-will  of  the 
proprietor  of  the  Hotel  Mohican, 
so  that  all  would  be  in  readiness 
for  Monday  night.  After  receiving 
Sabrina  from  Furbish,  '98,  at  Al- 
bany, Green  immediately  shipped 
her  to  New  London.  He,  too,  had 

104 


considerable  trouble  in  getting  the 
box  into  the  express  car,  and  this 
in  the  rather  crowded  station  at 
Albany  caused  many  an  anxious 
moment  for  the  guardian.  A  five- 
hundred-pound  box  is  not  an  easy 
thing  to  handle  or  conceal,  and  he 
feared  lest  even  a  chance  visitor 
might  discover  its  presence  there. 
Sabrina  finally  reached  New  Haven 
by  way  of  the  B.  &  A.  railroad  to 
Pittsfield,  and  from  there  N.  Y., 
N.  H.  &  H.,  to  New  Haven.  Much 
to  his  dismay,  Green  learned  that 
the  last  express  for  New  London  had 
gone, —  and  this  was  the  afternoon 
of  the  day  of  the  banquet.  How- 
ever, by  the  kindness  of  the  express 
agent,  whose  sympathy  was  gained 
by  the  pitiful  story  told  him  of  the 
urgent  need  of  getting  this  valuable 
4  machine '  in  New  London  that 
night,  Sabrina  was  soon  again  speed- 
105 


ing  on  toward  her  beloved  devotees. 
Preceding  the  class  by  two  or  three 
hours,  on  his  arrival  in  New  London 
Green  took  Sabrina  immediately  to 
the  hotel  and  by  the  time  '00 
arrived  she  was  ready  to  receive 
them.  As  the  class  was  seated 
in  the  banquet  hall  a  delegation 
of  four  retired  and  returned  with 
Sabrina.  After  the  usual  enthusiasm 
and  each  member  of  the  class  had 
made  his  obeisance  to  the  Goddess, 
she  was  escorted  from  the  room 
and  within  an  hour  again  started 
on  her  travels."  The  forty-mile 
ride  across  the  state  was  one  of  the 
wildest  that  either  Sabrina  or  her 
guardian  had  ever  taken.  At  just 
twelve  o'clock,  Green  started  with 
a  team,  the  driver  being  his  only 
companion.  "  It  was  one  of  the 
darkest  nights  imaginable,  with  rain 
pouring  down  in  torrents,  making 

106 


the  roads  a  sea  of  mud.  Every 
sound  was  intensified  in  the  darkness 
and  many  times  Green  felt  certain 
that  there  were  followers  on  the 
trail.  As  the  hours  passed  the 
strain  from  excitement  began  to  tell 
and  was  keenly  felt.  Blacker  and 
blacker  seemed  to  grow  the  dark- 
ness, and  a  dense  fog  seemed  to 
settle  down  along  with  the  rain. 
And  it  was  only  by  the  sense  of 
feeling  that  either  Green  or  the 
driver  knew  whether  the  team  was 
in  the  road  or  in  the  ditch.  After 
travelling  about  three  hours  in  this 
way,  something  broke  and  the  wagon 
lurched  to  one  side.  Upon  examina- 
tion with  a  lantern,  they  found 
that  one  of  the  bolts  holding  the 
pole  to  the  axle  had  broken.  This 
looked  discouraging,  as  the  roads 
had  been  through  dense  woods 
without  a  sign  of  habitation  for 
107 


many  miles,  and  the  place  where 
the  relay  of  horses  was  waiting  was 
fully  a  mile  ahead,  with  a  long, 
steep  hill  intervening."  The  break 
was  repaired  as  well  as  was  possible 
in  the  darkness  by  rope  and  parts 
of  the  harness,  and  once  more  they 
began  their  weary  journey,  just  as 
the  light  of  day  was  breaking  in  the 
east.  The  barn  where  fresh  horses 
were  waiting  was  reached,  but  the 
driver  refused  to  proceed  until  the 
break  in  the  wagon  had  been 
repaired.  Green  was  unable  to  per- 
suade him,  so  had  to  wait  for  a 
blacksmith  to  open  up  his  shop. 
This  meant  a  three  hours'  delay, 
which  meant  the  missing  of  the 
proposed  railroad  connection  and 
a  greater  possibility  of  discovery, 
should  it  happen  that  any  one  was 
following  Green. 

There  was  no  sleep  possible  under 

108 


such  a  strain,  but  the  haymow 
offered  a  most  inviting  place  to  pass 
the  time.  Here  Green  and  the 
driver  rested  until  six  o'clock,  when 
they  aroused  a  blacksmith  and  re- 
paired the  wagon.  Within  an  hour 
Sabrina  was  again  speeding  on  her 
way  and  they  reached  the  station 
just  in  time  for  the  train.  The 
journey  to  Albany  was  uneventful 
and  Green,  on  reaching  there,  again 
hid  Sabrina  in  the  warehouse  where 
she  had  formerly  been.  There  the 
Goddess  remained  in  quiet  soli- 
tude until  handed  over  to  the  class 
of  '02,  in  the  spring  of  their  Sopho- 
more year. 

When  Green  returned  to  Amherst, 
he  found  his  classmates  most  dis- 
turbed over  a  report  which  appeared 
in  the  New  London  paper  stating 
that  on  the  night  that  Sabrina  was 
taken  from  New  London  she  was 
109 


followed  by  the  class  of  '99,  who 
saw  her  guardian  take  the  God- 
dess to  a  certain  lake  and  placing 
her  on  a  raft  go  out  into  the  lake 
and  drown  her.  It  was  claimed 
that  she  had  been  removed  from 
her  watery  grave  by  the  members 
of  '99,  after  the  guardian  had 
returned  to  Amherst.  This  is  but 
one  example  of  the  fertile  imagina- 
tion of  many  reporters  who  try 
to  tell  of  the  wanderings  of  our 
Goddess.  It  was  true,  however, 
that  the  day  after  the  banquet 
members  of  '99  were  in  New 
London  and  offered  big  sums  of 
money  for  any  information  regarding 
the  hiding-place  of  Sabrina  or  the 
route  of  her  escape. 

'02  Sabrina  came  into  the  possession 

(1889-1902)  of  the  class  of    1902    early  in    the 

spring  of   1899.     At  that  time  she 

HO 


SABRINA  ON  ROOF  OF  KIBBE  FACTORY 


was  still  in  storage  at  Albany. 
Robert  Cleeland,  '02,  was  selected 
guardian  for  his  class.  He  re- 
ceived her  from  Green,  '00,  at 
Albany,  and  intended  to  ship  her 
to  Springfield.  The  case  which 
held  Sabrina  was  in  bad  repair, 
however,  and  so  bulky  that  only 
the  largest  of  car  doors  would 
admit  it.  He  therefore  had  a  more 
compact  case  built,  and  also  had 
an  arm  of  the  statue  repaired, 
which  had  been  badly  broken. 
This  work  was  done  by  an  artisan 
in  West  Albany.  At  length  Sabrina 
was  ready  for  shipment  to  Spring- 
field, where  she  was  stored  in  the 
factory  of  Kibbe  Brothers,  on  Har- 
rison Avenue.  On  the  train  coming 
from  Albany,  Sabrina  had  an  escort 
of  about  a  dozen  fellows,  both  odd 
and  even  classes,  returning  from 
Easter  vacation, — entirely  unaware, 


however,  of  the  honor  being  done 
them  in  being  allowed  to  ride  on  the 
same  train  with  the  Goddess. 

1902  had  planned  to  hold  its 
Freshman  banquet  at  the  Hotel 
Wellington,  North  Adams,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Cleeland  had  com- 
pleted final  arrangements  for  trans- 
porting Sabrina  to  that  place  when 
a  telegram  apprised  him  that  the 
plans  for  the  banquet  had  been 
discovered  by  the  odd  classmen. 
Cleeland  immediately  cancelled  all 
arrangements  and  returned  to  Am- 
herst. 

The  banquet  was  finally  held  in 
June,  1899,  at  The  Worthy,  in 
Springfield,  Massachusetts.  This 
was  a  somewhat  risky  undertaking 
on  account  of  the  proximity  of 
Springfield  to  Amherst.  It  was  very 
convenient,  however,  for  Cleeland  to 
take  Sabrina  from  the  Kibbe  factory 

112 


to  the  hotel,  only  a  few  blocks  away, 
and  return  her  without  exciting  any 
suspicion  at  all.  The  banquet  went 
off  in  good  shape  and  after  Sabrina 
was  duly  cheered  and  kissed  by  all 
the  men  present,  she  was  returned 
to  the  top  floor  of  the  Kibbe  factory, 
having  been  away  from  her  hiding 
place  less  than  an  hour.  There  she 
remained  quietly  until  she  was 
turned  over  to  the  class  of  I  904. 

Donald  Bartlett,  '04,  was  origi-  '04 
nally  appointed  guardian  for  his  (J902-1904) 
class.  For  some  reason  or  other 
suspicion  seemed  to  center  in  the 
minds  of  the  odd  classmen  upon 
Bartlett  as  the  possible  guardian,  and 
some  of  their  men,  especially  those 
in  Bartlett's  fraternity,  watched  him 
night  and  day.  So,  perforce,  Haw- 
kins, then  President  of  '04,  told 
Bartlett  that  he  would  be  unable 
113 


to  serve  as  guardian,  and  shortly 
before  the  time  of  the  '04  banquet 
Joseph  B.  Eastman  was  appointed 
guardian. 

The  day  before  the  class  ban- 
quet, in  New  London,  Connecticut, 
which  was  held  May  4,  1902, 
"  Eastman  left  Amherst  on  the  plea 
that  his  uncle  had  just  died  and  that 
he  was  going  to  attend  his  funeral. 
He  went  down  to  Springfield,  stay- 
ing over  night  at  the  Massasoit 
House  under  an  assumed  name. 
Next  day  he  met  Cleeland,  '02,  and 
had  Sabrina  taken  from  the  factory 
to  the  train  and  expressed  to  New 
Haven.  Eastman  accompanied  her 
on  the  same  train,  saw  her  unloaded 
at  New  Haven  and  re-expressed 
to  New  London.  In  the  station 
at  New  Haven,  Eastman  met  a 
classmate  of  his  and  had  considerable 
difficulty  in  explaining  to  him  his 

114 


presence  there  at  that  time.  He, 
however,  told  some  lie  to  satisfy 
the  man  and  managed  to  catch  the 
same  train  with  Sabrina  to  New 
London.  There  he  had  the  box 
taken  by  a  local  expressman  to  the 
hotel  where  the  banquet  was  to 
be  held. 

The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  was 
the  only  one  who  knew  what  was 
up,  and  he  told  the  expressman 
some  lie  about  the  contents  of  the 
box.  It  was  hauled  up  to  the 
second  story  of  the  hotel  by  a 
block  and  tackle  in  the  rear,  where 
they  sometimes  handled  heavy  bag- 
gage. She  was  then  placed  in  a 
room  immediately  adjoining  the  ban- 
quet and  there  waited  for  the  class 
to  arrive.  Just  before  the  banquet, 
the  box  was  unpacked  and  Sabrina 
was  placed  upon  a  table  in  this 
adjoining  room.  After  the  banquet 
115 


was  in  session,  all  the  class  filed  in 
one  by  one  and  kissed  her  chaste 
lips,  vowing  eternal  allegiance.  She 
was  then  packed  up  again  and  taken 
in  a  light  spring  wagon  from  the 
hotel,  having  been  let  down  by 
means  of  the  block  and  tackle  which 
had  taken  her  up.  With  a  good 
team  of  horses  she  was  quickly  carted 
to  the  pier  of  the  Norwich  Line, 
where  she  was  loaded  on  board 
the  boat  for  New  York.  Eastman 
went  along  with  her  and  immediately 
on  arrival  in  New  York  City  had 
her  taken  to  a  storehouse  on  West 
Street,  where  he  left  her  under  an 
assumed  name." 

Just  before  Sabrina  was  to  be 
turned  over  to  the  class  of  1906, 
Eastman  was  elected  President  of 
'04,  and  so  gave  the  care  of  Sabrina 
to  Hawkins,  whom  he  had  succeeded. 


116 


Sabrina  passed  into  the  hands  '06 
of  '06  at  their  Sophomore  banquet,  <1904-1906) 
held  in  the  Murray  Hill  Hotel, 
in  New  York  City.  Ralph  W. 
Wheeler,  '06,  was  chosen  guardian. 
He  was  at  Hartford  with  the  base- 
ball team  two  days  before  the  ban- 
quet, which  was  held  on  May  9th, 
1904,  and  under  the  pretext  of 
going  to  stay  with  a  relative,  Wheeler 
left  the  team  without  creating  sus- 
picion and  reached  New  York  City 
that  evening.  The  next  morning, 
which  was  Sunday,  Wheeler  met 
Hawkins,  *04,  who  took  him  to  the 
basement  of  the  Murray  Hill  Hotel 
and  showed  him  among  the  stacks 
of  trunks,  a  large  box  which  he  said 
contained  the  famous  Sabrina.  The 
box  had  been  there  since  the  after- 
noon of  the  day  before. 

Monday,  May  9th,  about  noon, 
the  class  of  '06  with  numerous 
117 


other  even  classmen  arrived  at  the 
hotel  and  shortly  after  were  as- 
sembled in  one  of  the  parlors  to 
view  and  kiss  the  Goddess.  The 
ceremony  over,  she  was  repacked 
by  Hawkins  and  Eastman,  '04,  and 
taken  to  the  basement  of  the  hotel 
where  she  was  officially  turned  over 
to  Wheeler  as  guardian,  who  hur- 
ried her  away  from  the  hotel  before 
there  could  be  any  chance  of  trouble 
from  odd  classmen.  She  was 
loaded  into  a  dray  and  carried 
through  the  city.  Wheeler  followed 
not  far  behind  and  soon  got  into 
trouble.  No  one  had  seen  an  odd 
classman,  but  the  streets  were  full 
of  men  of  his  own  class  and  he  had 
to  stop  to  talk  with  them  (because 
it  is  essential  for  a  guardian  to 
conceal  his  identity  even  from 
the  members  of  his  own  class), 
and  Wheeler  found  it  difficult  to 

118 


explain  why  he  was  in  such  a  hurry. 
Meanwhile,  the  boxed  Sabrina, 
looming  up  like  a  mountain  as  it 
seemed  to  him,  was  passing  on  down 
the  street  in  plain  view  of  all,  and 
he  had  to  follow  on.  The  trip, 
however,  was  at  last  accomplished, 
and  Sabrina  was  taken  to  the 
northern  part  of  Manhattan  and 
there  hidden  in  the  second  story 
of  a  machine  shop,  where  Wheeler 
left  her  until  she  was  to  be  turned 
over  to  '08. 

The  Sophomore  banquet  of  the  '08 
class  of  1908  was  held  at  the  Hotel 
Astor  in  New  York  City  on  March 
19th,  1906;  and  there  Sabrina  was 
given  into  the  charge  of  Fayette  F. 
Read,  guardian  for  '08.  After  the 
usual  ceremonies,  Sabrina  left  the 
jovial  circle  of  '08  banqueters  and, 
under  the  charge  of  Read,  was 

119 


carted  to  a  Fifth  Avenue  warehouse, 
where  she  was  to  be  left  for  a  week. 
Read,  having  returned  to  Amherst, 
sent  an  order  to  the  warehouse  to 
have  the  box  forwarded.  In  a  few 
days  he  received  a  letter  from  the 
company  asking  him  to  come  im- 
mediately to  New  York  and  see  the 
contents  of  his  box.  The  letter  said, 
'  There  is  nothing  in  it  but  a  battered 
old  statue  which  seems  badly  used," 
and  refused  to  ship  it  until  Read  had 
seen  it.  Consequently  he  took  the 
midnight  train  for  New  York,  filled 
with  apprehension,  and  was  vastly 
relieved  the  next  morning  to  see 
Sabrma's  smiling  face  the  same  as 
ever.  Truly  she  did  look  a  little 
misused,  and  to  an  outsider  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  statue  would 
seem  to  be  almost  nil.  When  it  is 
remembered  how  many  wild  ad- 
ventures the  statue  has  been  through, 

120 


it  is  remarkable  that  anything  is 
left  at  all.  A  brief  explanation 
served  to  satisfy  the  warehouse 
people,  and  after  a  new  case  had 
been  made  for  her  to  travel  in, 
Read  had  her  expressed  to  Holyoke, 
Massachusetts,  and  immediately 
upon  her  arrival  took  her  in  a  big 
wagon  up  the  river  road  and  hid  her 
under  his  brother's  log  cabin,  "  The 
Pines,"  facing  on  the  river,  where 
she  was  left  until  the  Sophomore 
banquet  of  the  class  of  1910. 

On  March  4th,  1908,  Read,  '08,         '10 
turned     Sabrina    over    to    the    class  (1908-1910) 
of  1  9 1 0  at  their  Sophomore  banquet, 
held  at  the  Hotel  Astor,  New  York 
City,  Max  Shoop  acting  as  guardian 
for   '  1 0.     Sabrina   in   all   her   glory 
was     kissed     and     toasted     by    the 
banqueters    with    more    than    usual 
fervor.     She  was  then  quickly  taken 
121 


out  into  the  darkness  —  and  eventu- 
ally to  the  little  cabin  on  the  Connec- 
ticut River,  north  of  Holyoke,  where 
she  remained  until  the  spring  of 
1909. 

The  class  of  1910,  as  represented 
by  Fink,  President,  and  the  ap- 
pointed guardian,  decided  to  stir 
up  a  little  excitement  by  bringing 
Sabrina  into  Amherst  and  showing 
her  to  the  public  at  the  Williams 
game,  during  the  1910  Junior  Prom 
week.  This  was  in  May,  1909. 
Every  detail  was  carefully  worked 
out  and  every  possible  emergency 
prepared  for.  The  week  before 
the  Prom,  Hal  Greene,  '12,  brought 
his  big  seven  seater  Royal  Tourist 
up  to  College  and  rode  around  with 
Juniors  and  Freshmen  so  that  the 
machine  might  not,  on  the  appointed 
day,  excite  too  much  suspicion.  On 
Monday  night,  May  24th,  at  about 

122 


midnight,  the  Royal  Tourist,  with 
Fink,  Francis,  Henry  and  Shoop, 
*  1 0,  and  Corwin  and  Greene,  '  1 2, 
with  the  latter  at  the  wheel,  sped 
rapidly  down  the  river  road  to 
Read's  cottage  and  brought  Sabrina, 
covered  with  burlap,  back  into 
Amherst  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  town  was  quiet,  and 
no  one  saw  the  big  machine  as  it 
passed  noiselessly  down  Pleasant 
Street  to  the  home  of  John  Henry, 
'  1 0,  on  North  Pleasant  Street.  Here, 
with  bated  breath,  the  men  tenderly 
carried  Sabrina  into  the  cellar  of  the 
house  and  left  her  in  an  out-of-the- 
way  corner  until  the  next  day. 

That  afternoon,  which  was  Tues- 
day, word  was  passed  round  to  all 
the  Juniors,  that  is,  the  class  of  1910, 
to  leave  quietly  that  night  after 
fraternity  meetings  and  come  by 
twos  or  threes  to  Henry's  barn. 

123 


No  further  information  was  given 
except  that  nothing  was  to  be  said 
to  any  other  persons  whatsoever' 
About  ten  o'clock  that  night  the 
above-mentioned  men  gathered  in 
Henry's  cellar  and  after  careful 
consultation  over  all  details  carried 
Sabnna  into  the  adjoining  barn. 
At  10.30  that  night,  the  class  of 
1910  gathered  by  candle  light  in 
this  little  barn  on  North  Pleasant 
Street  and  gazed  on  the  radiant 
form  of  Sabnna  while  a  "  flash- 
light "  was  taken.  Then  in  awed 
silence  every  man  in  turn  kissed 
the  Goddess  and  passed  quietly 
out  into  the  darkness,  with  a  parting 
injunction  from  the  guardian  to  say 
absolutely  nothing  to  other  people 
of  the  night's  doings  until  Sabrina 
was  at  a  safe  distance.  It  had  been 
a  complete  surprise  to  practically 
the  entire  class,  and  the  suppressed 

124 


whispers  and  pleased,  anxious  faces 
showed  that  they  realized  their 
privilege  in  the  fact  that  Sabrina  had 
not  been  in  Amherst  for  fifteen  years. 
When  all  had  gone,  the  sextette 
above  mentioned,  trembling  from 
fear  lest  the  odd  classmen  might 
discover  Sabrina's  presence  before 
they  got  away,  made  all  haste  to 
get  Sabrina  into  the  tonneau  of  the 
big  Royal  Tourist  and  take  her 
quickly  from  Henry's  barn  to  the  cel- 
lar of  the  home  of  Mr.  Toole,  a 
farmer  living  way  out  on  the  North 
Road,  on  the  way  to  Sunderland. 
There  Sabrina  was  left  until  the  next 
day  at  noon.  This  was  Wednes- 
day, the  day  of  the  Prom  Game 
with  Williams.  By  two  o'clock 
the  college  had  marched  in  proces- 
sion behind  the  band  to  Pratt  Field 
and  as  soon  as  the  coast  was  clear 
the  big  machine,  this  time  containing 
125 


Francis,  Fink,  and  Shoop,  '10,  and 
Madden,  Corwin,  and  Greene,  '12, 
stole  from  the  precincts  of  the  town 
of  Amherst  to  the  farmhouse  on  the 
North  Road.  Sabrina  was  care- 
fully placed  in  the  tonneau  and  the 
stunt  of  lifting  her  high  in  the  air 
while  the  machine  was  going  at  a 
good  speed  was  practised  on  the 
way  in.  A  supply  of  clubs  lay 
in  the  bottom  of  the  car,  ready  for 
instant  defense,  and  the  machine 
started  for  Amherst. 

Every  detail  had  been  arranged 
for  at  the  field.  Two  parties  of  men 
were  detailed  to  watch  each  gate, 
the  plan  being  to  run  Sabrina  onto 
the  field  and  off  again  during  one 
of  the  innings  of  the  game.  One 
man  was  detailed  to  smash  the 
telephone  in  the  grand-stand.  Two 
others  were  detailed  to  follow  the 
machine  in  motor  cycles  as  it  left  the 

126 


SABRINA  JUST  BEFORE  HER  APPEARANCE  ON  PRATT  FIELD 


field,  and  to  head  off  possible 
pursuers.  Two  others  were  in- 
structed to  put  all  odd  classmen's 
motor  cycles  out  of  business,  and 
a  number  of  others  were  told  to 
tackle  any  of  the  crowd  that  might 
make  a  quick  start  to  head  off  the 
machine.  Each  man  had  been  told 
that  the  machine  would  swing  in 
on  the  field  at  exactly  4.05,  im- 
mediately after  the  Northampton 
car  had  gone  out.  Avery,  '  1 0,  was 
to  have  a  second  machine  just  outside 
the  fence  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  the 
big  car,  to  block  pursuit  or  to  carry 
the  statue  if  anything  should  happen 
to  the  Royal  Tourist.  New  locks 
and  chains  were  secured  with  which 
to  fasten  the  gates  after  the  machine 
had  left  the  field,  to  hinder  possible 
pursuit  by  other  autos.  At  the 
under-pass  on  Northampton  Road 


127 


preparations     had     been     made     to 
block  the  road  if  necessary. 

At  the  appointed  hour  everything 
at  the  field  was  in  readiness,  and  the 
men  in  their  positions.  At  exactly 
4  p.m.,  the  big  machine,  with 
Sabnna  covered  with  heavy  robes 
in  the  tonneau,  drove  into  town, 
down  Pleasant  Street  and  around 
the  Common,  daringly  exultant  over 
the  secret  it  held.  As  soon  as  the 
Hamp  car  had  left,  the  Royal 
Tourist  ran  down  Amity  Street  and 
out  Lincoln  Avenue,  and  swung  into 
the  "  Hamp  Road  "  very  near  the 
field.  It  was  five  minutes  after 
four  and  the  watchers  who  met  the 
machine  said  it  was  the  fifth  inning 
with  Amherst  in  the  field.  This 
was  the  most  propitious  time  and 
the  machine  with  the  six  excited  men, 
their  hearts  literally  in  their  mouths, 
sped  onto  the  field  and  around  the 

128 


track.  This  certainly  was  bearding 
the  lion  in  his  den.  Little  did  those 
intent  stands,  as  they  casually  noticed 
the  big  machine  coming  onto  the 
field,  realize  its  precious  burden. 
Not  even  the  class  of  1910,  who 
had  seen  Sabrina  the  night  before, 
knew  that  she  was  to  appear  before 
them  on  the  field.  No  suspicions 
had  yet  been  aroused,  and  the 
machine  quietly  took  its  place  along- 
side the  last  of  the  long  line  of 
autos  in  front  of  the  tennis  courts. 
There  happened  to  be  some  odd 
classmen  in  the  next  car.  They, 
however,  noticed  nothing  strange 
in  the  pile  of  blankets  in  the  tonneau 
of  the  Royal  Tourist,  and  they 
waved  a  merry  recognition.  Before 
Greene  found  it  necessary  to  stop 
his  engines  to  avoid  suspicion,  a 
pop  fly  closed  the  inning,  and  the 
big  car  with  Sabrina  started  with 
129 


a  jump  for  the  diamond  and  bore 
down  the  second  base  line  at 
about  thirty  miles  an  hour  before 
the  astounded  multitude.  The 
baseball  men  rapidly  fell  away 
from  in  front  of  the  machine.  Abso- 
lute silence  reigned,  for  the  people 
thought  that  the  occupants  of  the 
machine  must  be  drunk.  At  the 
moment  the  car  passed  over  the  first 
base,  the  men  in  the  back  quickly 
lifted  Sabrina  high  above  their 
heads  to  the  gaze  of  the  many 
people  gathered  in  the  stands.  For 
a  few  seconds  nothing  broke  the 
stillness  but  the  chug  chug  of  the 
two  motor  bikes  which,  according 
to  instructions,  shot  out  from  near 
the  bleachers  and  followed  the 
receding  car  in  which  Sabrina  was 
still  raised  exultingly  on  high.  After 
a  moment's  dazed  paralysis  a  wild 
cheer  broke  from  the  many  Sabrina 

130 


men  in  the  stands  and  a  strenuous 
time  ensued  as  some  of  the  odd 
classmen  tried  to  follow  the  machine, 
and  some  of  them  with  motor  bikes 
were  swearing  because  they  could 
not  get  them  to  go.  Every  man  in 
the  scheme  had  done  his  duty 
faithfully,  and  as  the  gates  were 
quickly  shut  and  locked  after  the 
flying  car,  pursuit  was  practically 
useless.  It  was  some  time  before 
the  game  was  resumed,  but  when 
it  was  Amherst  took  hold  with 
such  a  will  that  McClure,  our 
Sabrina  pitcher,  won  a  no-hit  2  to  0 
victory  over  Williams.  It  was  a 
big  day  all  around. 

Meanwhile,  the  Royal  Tourist 
had  disappeared  down  the  Hamp 
hill  at  sixty  miles  an  hour,  with 
Avery's  car  following  in  the  rear, 
and  Bedford  and  Ladd  on  motor 
bikes  following  in  a  whirl  of  dust. 
131 


At  the  crossroads  in  Hadley  the 
machine  stopped  for  a  moment,  the 
occupants  finding  that  they  were 
not  pursued,  and  Avery's  car  was 
instructed  to  proceed  on  over  to 
"  Hamp "  to  throw  off  suspicion, 
while  Bedford  and  Ladd  rode  back 
to  Amherst.  The  men  guarding  Sa- 
brina  proceeded  in  their  machine 
on  down  the  river  road  and  secreted 
Sabrina  in  the  cellar  of  a  jewelry 
store  on  High  Street,  in  Holyoke, 
Mass.  The  affair  had  been  a  com- 
plete success,  and  the  six  men 
who  had  been  in  the  machine  all 
the  time  were  weak  with  the  ner- 
vous excitement  of  that  thrilling 
hour.  Pursuit  had  been  very  scat- 
tered and  proved  futile.  The  odd 
classmen  had  been  thrown  complete- 
ly off  the  track. 

There  was  just  one  time  on  that 
eventful   day  when  it  looked   as  if 

132 


plans  were  going  to  be  seriously 
upset.  It  seems  that  Sanderson,  a 
tradesman  in  town,  lives  opposite 
Henry's  house  on  Pleasant  Street, 
and  the  night  before,  as  he  was 
sitting  on  his  veranda,  he  had 
noticed  the  gathering  of  the  class 
in  Henry's  barn  and  later  saw 
Sabrina  taken  away  in  a  machine. 
A  vivid  imagination  had  led  him 
next  day  to  say  to  an  Amherst  man 
who  had  dropped  into  his  store, 
"  I  hear  you  are  going  to  have 
Sabrina  at  the  game  to-day."  This 
was  at  1 .30.  As  luck  would  have 
it,  this  Amherst  man  happened  to 
be  a  Junior  and  a  Sabrina  man, 
and  as  soon  as  he  left  the  store 
he  hunted  up  one  of  the  men  who 
had  charge  of  Sabrina  and  told 
him  what  Sanderson  had  said. 
Filled  with  alarm,  this  individual 
hastened  to  Sanderson's  store  and 
133 


told  him  to  keep  still  and  say 
nothing  until  after  the  game  at 
least.  Sanderson  acquiesced  will- 
ingly, and  this  danger  was  safely 
passed. 


134 


C[It  was  some  time  before  the 
excitement  of  that  afternoon's  episode 
died  out,  though  it  spent  consider- 
able of  its  force  in  a  fight  up  town 
after  the  game.  Only  a  few  days 
after  this,  Fink,  President  of  1910, 
received  a  letter  from  the  class  of 
'94  written  the  day  before  the 
appearance  of  Sabrina  on  Pratt 
Field,  asking  if  the  Juniors  could 
not  bring  the  Goddess  to  '94' s 
reunion  banquet  in  Amherst  at  Com- 
mencement time.  Fink  and  Shoop 
talked  it  over  and  believed  it  rather 
a  risky  proposition  on  top  of  the 
Prom  episode;  but  realizing  the 
debt  that  all  Sabrina  men  owe 
to  '94  for  having  secured  Sabrina 
for  them  from  '93,  it  was  decided  to 
make  a  try  for  it,  and  if  possible 
bring  Sabrina  to  their  banquet. 
All  care  and  secrecy  was  used  in 
preparation.  The  odd  classmen 
135 


were  suspicious,  however,  that  some 
such  thing  might  take  place,  and 
several  of  the  men  in  '  1 0,  particularly 
the  two  above  mentioned,  were 
watched  all  the  time.  However, 
every  detail  had  been  arranged  for, 
and  at  the  appointed  time,  Monday, 
June  28th,  two  machines,  which 
had  been  rented  in  Springfield,  left 
the  rear  of  the  jewelry  store  in  Hoi- 
yoke  with  Sabrina  and  the  follow- 
ing men,  Francis,  Seligman  and 
Shoop,  '  1 0,  Corwin,  Broughton  and 
Johns,  '12.  The  machines  pro- 
ceeded up  the  river  road  into  Had- 
ley.  Fink  had  been  detailed  with 
a  number  of  men  to  remain  in 
Amherst  to  keep  the  coast  clear 
and  see  that  no  excitement  was 
aroused.  They  were  to  watch  par- 
ticularly Hitchcock  Hall,  where 
the  '94  banquet  was  to  be  held. 
Arrangements  had  been  made  for 

136 


Shoop  to  call  Fink  at  7.30,  at  8.00 
and  at  8.25  P.  M.,  at  different 
points  along  the  line,  so  that  at  any 
one  of  these  points,  if  the  odd 
classmen  were  gathering  for  trouble 
in  Amherst,  the  machines  might 
turn  and  flee  immediately  with  their 
precious  burden. 

The  last  call  was  to  be  made  from 
the  hat  factory,  by  the  C.  V.  R.  R. 
and  then,  if  the  coast  was  clear, 
the  machines  were  to  make  a  dash 
for  Hitchcock  Hall.  If  between  the 
last  call  and  the  time  the  machines 
reached  the  hall  any  trouble  arose, 
red  lights  were  to  be  fired  by  the 
men  on  guard  at  the  banquet,  so 
that  the  machines  might  sail  by 
without  stopping,  simply  holding 
Sabrina  to  the  view  of  the  ban- 
queters from  the  tonneau.  If  there 
was  no  danger  from  the  odd  class- 
men, the  machines  were  to  stop 
137 


and  Sabrina  was  to  be  taken  into 
the  doorway  of  the  banquet  room 
and  a  flashlight  taken  of  the  scene. 
Everything  worked  as  planned.  The 
7.30  call  was  made  from  a  small 
house  in  Hadley,  and  Fink  reported 
everything  quiet.  The  machines 
then  came  into  Amherst  by  North- 
ampton Road,  and  the  East  Hadley 
Road,  and  making  a  long  detour 
around  "  D.  K.  E."  Hill,  arrived  at 
the  hat  factory  about  8.20.  Shoop 
telephoned  Fink  while  the  lights 
were  being  lighted  on  the  machines 
and  everything  made  ready  for  the 
final  dash.  At  8.25  Fink  reported 
everything  quiet  at  the  banquet, 
though  '99  was  having  its  dinner 
on  the  lawn  just  across  the  Common 
at  Davis'  Corner.  It  was  decided 
to  make  a  dash  for  it  immediately. 
Quickly  the  machines  sped  up  the 
oval  by  Walker  Hall  and  down 

138 


by  Hitchcock  Hall.  Everything  was 
quiet  and  the  machines  stopped 
long  enough  for  Sabrina  to  be  taken 
up  to  the  door,  and  amid  tremendous 
cheering  a  flashlight  was  taken  of 
her,  silhouetted  in  the  doorway. 
She  was  there  but  an  instant,  and 
then  strong  arms  put  Sabrina  back 
into  a  machine,  and  with  '94  men 
running  wildly  across  the  Common 
and  shouting  triumphantly  at  '99, 
as  they  banqueted  totally  ignorant 
of  what  was  being  done  under  their 
very  noses,  the  two  machines  went 
at  full  speed  down  South  Pleasant 
Street  and  around  by  Blake  Field 
and  out  on  Northampton  Road 
again.  Clark  and  Bedford  had 
been  doing  good  work  on  their 
motor  cycles,  and  found  that  the 
odd  classmen  had  blockaded  the 
Northampton  Road  in  front  of  Chi 
Psi  with  ropes  and  spiked  planks. 
139 


The  machines  had  hardly  left  the 
'94  banquet  when  several  '  1  1  men 
came  running  up  with  spiked  planks 
to  lay  in  front  of  the  autos,  but  they 
were  just  a  minute  too  late.  The 
machines  were  by  this  time  speeding 
fifty  miles  an  hour  down  Northamp- 
ton Road  with  Sabrina  safely 
keeping. 


in 


140 


CLComing  into  Amherst,  at  the 
B.  &  M.  underpass  on  Northampton 
Road,  the  fellows  with  Sabrina  had 
noticed  four  machines  apparently 
broken  down  at  that  one  place,  and 
in  one  of  these  machines  were  a 
couple  of  odd  classmen.  It  looked 
a  little  suspicious  that  four  machines 
should  be  broken  down  at  the  same 
time  and  so  close  together.  But 
little  was  thought  of  it  until,  as  they 
were  flying  from  Amherst,  their  ma- 
chines neared  the  underpass.  The 
startled  men  saw  a  great  light  just 
over  a  small  rise  in  front  of  them. 
The  thought  immediately  flashed 
into  their  minds  that  they  had  been 
trapped  and  that  the  odd  classmen 
had  blocked  the  underpass  and  built 
big  bon-fires  all  around  it.  In  the 
excitement,  one  of  the  men  looked 
back  and  mistook  a  couple  of  arc- 
lights  for  a  machine  following  them. 
141 


The  last  crossroad  had  been  passed, 
so  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
take  a  chance  and  go  ahead.  The 
glare  was  so  bright  that  little  could 
be  distinguished  until  within  less 
than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  under- 
pass, when  a  light  separated  itself 
from  the  general  glare  and  ap- 
proached in  the  form  of  a  machine. 
The  men  guarding  Sabrina  grasped 
their  clubs,  prepared  for  a  general 
onslaught, —  but  the  approaching 
machine  passed  quietly.  It  was  one 
of  those  that  had  been  broken  down. 
In  quick  succession  the  three  other 
autos  passed  in  the  same  way,  and 
the  big  glare  which  had  frightened 
the  men  was  no  more.  It  was  indeed 
a  remarkable  coincidence  that  those 
four  machines  which  had  been 
broken  down  at  that  place  should 
have  all  started  up  at  just  the  time 
when  the  two  machines  with  Sa- 

142 


brina  were  returning.  The  men  in 
the  machines  heaved  a  great  sigh  of 
relief  as  they  shot  unmolested  through 
the  underpass.  They  proceeded  on, 
turned  off  at  the  River  Road,  and 
left  Sabrina  that  night  in  Holyoke, 
in  the  cellar  of  the  jewelry  store 
on  High  Street. 

At  Amherst,  meanwhile,  "  the 
news  spread  like  wildfire,  and  the 
many  odd  classmen,  graduate  and 
undergraduate,  began  to  plan  with 
profound  thought  how  they  would 
capture  the  Goddess.  By  midnight 
they  were  riding  wildly  in  automo- 
biles throughout  the  surrounding 
country,  trying  to  find  Sabrina,  but 
they  found  not  even  a  trace  of  her." 
And  once  more,  the  even  classmen, 
cleverly  outwitting  the  men  of  the 
odd  classes,  had  brought  Sabrina 
before  their  very  eyes  and  escaped 
with  her  untouched. 
143 


'12  Sabrina  remained  in  Holyoke  in 

perfect  safety  until  the  Sophomore 
banquet  of  the  class  of  1912  was  held 
at  the  Hotel  Astor  in  New  York 
City  on  March  4th,  1910.  Shoop, 
'10,  expressed  Sabrina  to  New 
York  City,  and  left  her  for  the  night 
and  day  preceding  the  banquet 
in  a  bank  on  Fifth  Avenue.  On 
the  night  of  March  4th,  Cornell, 
Henry,  Seligman  and  Shoop,  '10, 
secured  the  services  of  a  cartman  and 
a  private  detective,  and  took  Sabrina 
about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening 
from  the  bank,  down  into  Broadway, 
thronged  at  that  time  with  the  usual 
theatre  crowd.  Little  did  that  pleas- 
ure-seeking people  imagine  the  ex- 
citement in  the  breasts  of  those 
four  Sabrina  men  as  they  eagerly 
peered  from  the  covered  van  and 
watched  for  signs  of  any  odd  class- 
men, as  they  neared  the  Astor 

144 


Hotel.  She  was  quickly  taken  in 
the  box  to  the  Roof  Garden  of  the 
Astor  and  unpacked  in  a  room  ad- 
joining the  banquet  hall.  The  four 
men,  above  mentioned,  then  carried 
her  in  before  the  eyes  of  the  Sabrina 
men  there  assembled.  Amid  cheer- 
ing and  singing  of  "  All  hail,  Sabrina 
dear!"  she  was  given  a  place  of 
honor  before  the  speakers'  table,  and 
one  by  one  the  men  filed  by,  each 
giving  her  a  fond  caress,  after  which 
Shoop,  the  '10  guardian,  officially 
turned  her  over  to  the  class  of 
1912.  Sabrina  was  then  taken 
from  the  room  followed  by  all  the 
'10  men  present,  who  with  joined 
hands  continued  singing  and  danc- 
ing around  her  as  she  was  being 
packed  in  the  box,  and  just  before 
the  last  board  was  screwed  down 
they  each  gave  her  a  farewell  kiss.  It 
might  be  a  long  time  before  they 
145 


would  again  see  Sabrma,  who  had 
grown  to  mean  so  much  to  them 
during  their  four  years  in  college. 
They  did  not  stop  singing  until 
Sabrina  disappeared  in  the  elevator. 
She  was  soon  placed  in  the  express 
wagon  and  taken  back  to  the  bank. 

There  had  been  no  disturbance 
whatever  by  the  odd  classmen 
and  the  following  Monday,  Sabrina 
was  quietly  shipped  by  the  1912 
guardian  by  a  series  of  intermediate 
steps  to  a  small  fishing  town  on  the 
Maine  Coast.  There  she  is  resting 
peacefully  as  this  book  goes  to  press, 
but  at  just  this  time  she  is  also  about 
to  be  wafted  away  to  unknown 
regions  of  this  big,  big  country, 
far  from  the  profane  touch  of  in- 
quisitive odd  classmen.  All  Sa- 
brina men  bid  her  Godspeed. 


146 


d.Truly  a  unique  custom  is  this  of 
Sabrina.  Has  it  a  deeper  signifi- 
cance than  the  mere  college  prank? 
Even  the  most  casual  observer  can- 
not help  seeing  how  participation 
in  such  episodes  during  one's  college 
course  is  going  to  lighten  the  tedium 
of  the  classroom  and  impress  mem- 
ories of  happy  college  days  and 
friendship  upon  the  mind  of  the 
Amherst  man,  memories  which  will 
never  forsake  him  and  which  will 
increase  in  value  and  sentiment 
as  age  advances.  But  this  custom 
has  even  a  more  practical  result 
than  creating  food  for  memories. 
It  calls  the  men  of  the  Sabrina 
classes  closer  together,  impelled 
by  a  common  interest.  It  draws 
the  members  of  the  individual  class 
into  a  keener  spirit  of  Class  Loyalty, 
and  Class  Loyalty  and  Class  Spirit 
make  better  College  Loyalty  and 
147 


College  Spirit.  And  herein  lies  the 
chief  justification  of  this  class 
custom. 

At  every  alumni  dinner,  where 
a  Sabrina  class  is  present,  you  will 
find  a  greater  percentage  of  their 
men  in  attendance,  and  Sabrina  is 
still  the  Goddess  who  draws  them 
together.  Instance  the  following  re- 
port in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  the 
New  York  Alumni  banquet  held  in 
1908: 

"  There  is  apparently  something  in 
the  atmosphere  of  old  Amherst  that 
gives  the  vocal  organs  a  greater 
power  than  is  attained  on  any  other 
hill,  and  the  alumni  just  used  this 
power  to  the  limit.  ...  Of  course 
there  were  honors  also  for  others, 
and  of  these  latter  '  Sabrina,'  the 
Goddess  of  the  even  classes,  easily 
led.  .  .  .  Sabrina,'  as  she  ap- 
pears at  these  affairs,  is  only  a 

148 


replica  of  her  true  self,  however. 
The  original,  which  the  '08  class 
has  turned  over  to  the  '10  class,  is 
hidden  away  somewhere,  the  odd 
men  have  not  seen  it  in  several 
years.  When  her  '  worship's ' 
counterfeit  was  brought  on  last  night 
there  was  a  storm  of  applause  from 
the  evens  and  a  chorus  of  hisses  from 
the  odds.  The  huskies  who  car- 
ried the  green  lady  placed  her 
tenderly  on  the  table  around  which 
were  gathered  the  class  of  '94, 
for  they  were  the  miscreants  who 
rescued  '  Sabrina.'  ...  In  the 
course  of  the  dinner  ...  all  the 
lights  were  extinguished  and  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  where  the  men 
of  '94  sat,  there  flared  up  red  fire, 
whose  effect  was  heightened  by  a 
dozen  sparkles  that  emitted  stars  of 
fire,  and  '  Sabrina  '  stood,  or  rather 
reclined,  in  relief — in  bold  relief  some 
149 


would  say — as  the  evens  sang  '  All 
hail,  Sabrina  dear.'  ' 

Furthermore  Sabrina  has  a  live 
influence  among  those  who  have 
left  the  undergraduate  days  and 
gone  out  into  the  world.  In  the 
last  six  years,  that  is,  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Reunion  Trophy 
Cup,  three  Sabrina  classes  have  won 
the  Trophy  with  the  greatest  per- 
centage of  their  class  back  at  Com- 
mencement, while  but  once  have 
the  non-Sabrina  men  won  the  cup. 
Last  Commencement,  '94,  the  class 
which,  as  the  reader  will  remember, 
stole  Sabrina  from  the  class  of  '93, 
had  85.33%  of  their  class  back  for 
their  fifteenth  reunion.  This  is  the 
record  for  Amherst,  and  is  the  great- 
est percentage  for  any  class  reunion 
of  any  college  concerning  which 
statistics  can  be  found. 

Such  considerations  show  that 
Sabrina  is  a  live  deity  with  the 

150 


alumni  long  after  they  have  left  these 
classic  halls  of  old  Amherst.  Their 
love  and  enthusiasm  still  cling  to  her, 
and  I  close  this  little  history  of  her 
life  with  the  words  of  a  '96  alumnus: 
'  To  think  of  such  a  Goddess, 
remembering  the  charming  legends 
related  about  her,  is  a  pleasure 
enjoyed  by  all  who  know  Amherst 
traditions.  But  to  have  seen  the 
Queenly  Sabrina,  even  to  have  had 
a  glimpse  of  her  beautiful  form,  has 
been  the  privilege  of  but  few.  To 
caress  the  cheek  of  a  real  Goddess, 
actually  to  sit  in  the  lap  of  Sabrina 
and  pledge  her  your  allegiance 
before  the  admiring  fellows,  is  an 
unique  experience.  And  through 
cunning,  wisdom  and  loyalty  may 
the  delight  be  reserved  for  many, 
many  years  to  the  Even  Classes  of 
Old  Amherst." 


SABRINA  SONG 

We  may  sing  of  our  glorious  college, 

Of  the  old  chapel  steps  and  the  bell, 

Of  the  class-rooms  just  rilled  full  of  knowledge, 

Which  all  Amherst  men  love  so  well. 

But  to-night  as  we're  gather'd  together, 
Let  us  raise  a  strain  loudly  and  strong 
To  her  from  whom  naught  can  us  sever, 
To  her  who  keeps  watch  o'er  our  throng. 

Sabrina,  fair,  Sabrina,  dear, 
We  raise  to  thee  our  hearty  cheer, 
Come  fellows,  all,  and  give  a  toast 
To  her  we  love,  and  love  the  most. 


SABR1NA  BANQUETS 
•*• 

Class  of  '90  held  a  banquet  at  New  London.Conn., 
June,  1888.     NoSabrina 
Class  of  *9 1  held  a  banquet  at  Watch  Hill,  R.  I., 

June,  1 889.     Sabrina 
Class  of  *93  held  a  banquet  at  Springfield,  Mass., 

Feb.,  1 890.     Sabrina 
Class  of '93  held  a  banquet  at  Boston,  Mass., 

June  19,  1891.     Sabrina 
Class  of  *94  held  a  banquet  at  Brattleboro,  Vt, 

June,  1892.     Sabrina 
Class  of  '96  held  a  banquet  at  Greenfield,  Mass., 

Feb.,  1893.     NoSabrina 
Class  of  "96  held  a  banquet  at  Nassau,  N.  H., 

Jan.  1 2,  1 894.     Sabrina 
Class  of '98  held  a  banquet  at  Bennington,  Vt., 

Nov.  14,  1895.     Sabrina 

Class  of  '00  held  a  banquet  at  New  London.Conn., 
Nov.  1,1897.     Sabrina 
Class  of  *02  held  a  banquet  at  Springfield,  Mass., 

June  1899.     Sabrina 

Class  of  *04  held  a  banquet  at  New  London.Conn., 
May  4,  1902.     Sabrina 
Class  of  '06  held  a  banquet  at  New  York  City, 

May  9,  1904.     Sabrina 
Class  of  '08  held  a  banquet  at  New  York  City, 

Mar.  19,  1906.     Sabrina 
Class  of '  1 0  held  a  banquet  at  New  York  City, 

Mar.  4,  1 908.     Sabrina 
Class  of '  1 2  held  a  banquet  at  New  York  City, 

Mar.  5,  1910.     Sabrina 


SABRINA  GUARDIANS. 


CLASS. 

18VU.  Arthur   B.    Ingalls    (by   right   of 

conquest). 

1891.  Charles  Wells. 

1893.  E.  R.  Houghton  and  James  Breed. 

1894.  Harlan  F.  Stone. 
1896.  Charles  J.  Staples. 
1898.  Samuel  B.  Furbish. 
1900.  Everett  E.  Green. 
1902.  Robert  J.  Cleeland. 
1904.  Joseph  B.  Eastman. 
1906.  Ralph  W.  Wheeler. 
1908.  Fayette  F.  Read. 
1910.  Max  Shoop. 


LIBRARY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  UBRARY  FACILITY 


A    000613972     9 


